Friends, family and community members gathered at Manitoba's Legislature in Winnipeg Thursday to remember the life of Tim McLean, who was brutally killed a year ago onboard a Greyhound bus as it sped along a highway.
While it's been exactly a year since the 22-year-old McLean was killed, for many people, the memories of his life and death remain vivid.
McLean was heading home to Winnipeg from Edmonton when he was repeatedly stabbed and then beheaded by another passenger.
The death shocked the entire nation in its brutality, and many of the other 37 people who were onboard the bus that night have yet to shake the incident.
Kayli Shaw was one of those passengers, and she is still haunted by the memories.
"I see (Vince Li) taunting police with the head," she said of her memories in an interview with The Canadian Press this week.
"I see the fire department leaning against the police car, doing nothing."
Emergency officials responding to the death were forced to wait outside the bus as Li remained inside with McLean's remains.
Li was found not criminally responsible in the death, and is currently in a mental institution, where officials say he is being treated.
McLean's family has filed legal action against both Greyhound and the federal government for an alleged lack of security standards on buses, which they say allowed the death to occur.
"A mother should never have to go visit their son at a cemetery, and certainly not under these circumstances," said McLean's mother Carol deDelley said on Monday.
She was not expected to attend the vigil, as she planned to mourn her son in private.
Since Li's trial, deDelley has been campaigning for the creation of a new law -- called "Tim's Law" -- which would result in an automatic life-sentence for anyone convicted of taking a life, no matter what their mental state.
The death has also had a direct impact on bus security, as passengers boarding busses in cities must now pass through metal detectors and check their luggage before getting onboard.
