‘A wake-up call’: Advocates call for action after 3 women killed in East Vancouver

Advocates are calling for action after three women were stabbed and killed in East Vancouver earlier this month.

After the third victim of a triple stabbing in East Vancouver succumbed to her injuries last week, advocates are calling on police to publicly reveal the relationship between the suspect and the victims – and for urgent action on gender-based violence.

“A man has killed, allegedly, three women and no response at all. I mean, it’s wild,” Angela Marie MacDougall, the executive director of Battered Women’s Support Services, told CTV News on Tuesday.

Viet Quy John Ly, 54, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one of aggravated assault in connection with a stabbing on Sept. 5 that left two women dead at an apartment building and another with critical injuries a few blocks away. Police said they are submitting evidence to prosecutors for consideration of additional charges against Ly after the third victim died, but none have been approved yet.

The victims have been identified as 55-year-old Jianghui Deng, 54-year-old Chunxiu Yin, and 50-year-old Jinfeng Guan.

Guan died in hospital last Thursday.

The BWSS says it has asked the Vancouver Police Department to disclose whether Ly was in an intimate relationship with any of the victims. CTV News also asked for more information but has not received a response.

Police later confirmed to The Canadian Press that Ly and Guan were ex-spouses.

Public court records show a man with the same name as Ly and a woman with the same name as one of the victims were involved in a family law proceeding last year.

The BWSS says it counted 35 women and girls killed in B.C. over the past 13 months, the highest figure recorded in recent memory.

“It’s a public safety emergency,” MacDougall said. “We’ve tabled five asks of the provincial government that would go a long way to addressing the killings.”

The organization wants to see municipalities required to have gender-based violence task forces; more funding for services such as crisis lines and transition houses; a risk assessment framework for intimate partner violence and femicide in public systems including policing and family law; a province-wide education campaign; and a role within the public safety ministry to co-ordinate the response.

“We’ve had many cases. That should be a wake-up call. Nobody’s woken up yet,” MacDougall said. “And we hope that we can take this as an opportunity to introduce some important measures.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Kraig Krause