The family of Tori Dunn is calling for change to the justice system after the 30-year-old woman was killed in a reported home invasion.
Tori Dunn's father, Aron, held a press conference at Surrey Bend Regional Park Friday (June 28) alongside Tori's partner, Trafford Wace, and the leader of the Conservative Party of BC John Rustad, and Elenore Sturko, MLA for Surrey South.
The conference comes after the BC Prosecution Service approved charges early Friday of second-degree murder against Adam Mann in connection to Tori's death. He is scheduled to appear in court on July 19.
"The charges laid today against the man accused of killing my daughter bring a mix of emotions," Aron said. "We are happy that these charges are being laid, but we're also still angry."
Aron said his family is angry at Mann and the justice system and its failure to protect Tori. "It's been an emotional rollercoaster. We have moments where we all break down and cry, and then we have moments where we have to be strong and get the word out and for changes to take place."
Her family is doing what they believe Tori would do: fight for change.
"Tori would want justice for anybody. She would be fighting. You know, if this was her neighbour, she would be encouraging me to come out and help her fight for change. She would want me to do what I am doing," Aron said.
"She was a kind and gentle and soft, caring, young woman in the prime of her life, minding their own business, and it's a real tragedy that this happened and she wouldn't want to see it happen anybody else.
"I can only pray that justice will be served."
Aron said it's hard for the family to trust in the judicial process.
"It's difficult to have a sense that justice will be done with the justice system already failed our family, failed Tori, and if things don't change, to continue to fail other families," Aron said. "Our hearts are broken and we want answers. We want to know why the judge in this case allowed a violent offender back into our community to take Tori from us in the prime of her life."
Rustad said no parent should ever have to bury their child, and the government needs to step up to the plate.
“It’s time we stop the ‘hug a thug’ policies of this government and leave violent criminals locked up behind bars where they belong,” Rustad said.
"We need change within our system. We need changes both at the federal level and certainly at the provincial level," Rustad said, calling for minimum sentencing in the justice system.
"We need to be able to have the tools to make sure that people who commit crimes are not allowed to just be rotating back out into our society, and, provincially, we need to make sure that we have the judges we need to make sure that we have an efficient system that's working," said Rustad.
Change needs to happen to ensure this does not happen again, Rustad added.
Sturko, herself a former RCMP officer, is running with the BC Conservatives in Surrey-Cloverdale this October.
"As a former police officer, I know the police are doing everything they can, you know, I want to thank them for their work," Sturko said.
"We're here today with Aron and his family so that we can support them in their quest to find justice."
"It's clear that the pain that's caused by the failure of our justice system, or the opportunity that was given to someone to go out and then take the life of a bright young woman in the prime of her life, just simply unacceptable. So we have to do everything that we can to support Aron Dunn and his family to not forget Tory and to fight for change in our justice system."
B.C.'s Attorney General Niki Sharma said in a statement that her heart goes out to the Dunn family.
"It’s a nightmare situation – when we come home at the end of the day, we all expect to be safe in our own homes. We all stand together in our desire for the person who did this to be brought to justice and held accountable for this terrible crime," Sharma said.
"In this case, the BC Prosecution Service had approved charges for a separate crime, and asked that the suspect be held in custody. Despite this, he was released back into the community, where he's alleged to have committed this horrific crime."
"We got the federal government to strengthen federal bail rules and in this case Crown sought detention - we will be looking what happened here and advocating to Ottawa to ensure the federal Criminal Code is responsive to public safety needs so that people can have confidence that the justice system is working to keep people safe in B.C.,” Sharma said.
Police in Surrey were called to a home near the 9800-block of 182A Street at around 10 p.m. on June 16 and found Tori with life-threatening injuries.
Despite lifesaving efforts, Tori, died of her injuries after what her family reported as a home invasion and stabbing.
"While on route to the scene, officers located 40-year-old Adam Troy Mann of Ontario, who was subsequently taken into police custody in relation to the homicide with the assistance of the Integrated Police Dog Service (IPDS)," Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) said in a release Friday.
Mann has a lengthy criminal record in British Columbia and was charged in a separate incident with aggravated assault on June 17 in connection to a stabbing of a woman in Whalley on May 26, 2024.
IHIT is asking anyone with dash-camera or surveillance video in the area around the 9800-block of 182A Street, Surrey, on June 16, 2024 between 9 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
