Father thanks Surrey vigil for support, demands justice after daughter’s killing

A vigil attracted a crowd to a park in Surrey over the weekend to honour a woman who died after a violent attack in her Port Kells home a little over a week ago.

“Thank you to all who showed up last night for Tori’s Vigil. Thank you for all the love, support and stories shared about Tori,” said her father Aron Dunn in a Facebook post after Saturday’s event at Surrey Bend Regional Park.

“Was nice to meet so many of Tori’s friends and to be with my family. Tori would have loved to be there with us all,” he added. “The releasing of the butterflies was amazing.”

Photos from the vigil show butterflies landing on some of the guests.

Tori Dunn died after an attack in her home the night of June 16 in what the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is calling “a senseless act.”

Police have yet to name the suspect who was arrested near Tori’s residence on 182A Street in Port Kells shortly after the attack, only saying he remains in custody on an unrelated charge.

Aron says his 30-year-old daughter was killed by a stranger while she rested in her home. He is demanding answers, and is urging support to hold the “broken justice system accountable.”

An online fundraiser for the Dunn Family had raised over $16,000 by Monday morning, far surpassing its original $7,000 goal.

“We … cannot begin to understand how this could have happened to someone as kind and compassionate as Tori was,” a message from the family on the GoFundMe page said.

“Tori was the owner of a local landscaping business Dunn Right Landscaping with big aspirations. She was warm-hearted and lived her life in such an altruistic way,” it continued.

“These funds will be used towards Tori’s memorial service as well as pay for out-of-pocket costs incurred by the family during the investigation.”

During an unrelated news conference Monday, B.C. Premier David Eby shared that the Dunn family is right to ask questions about why the suspect was out on bail while he awaited trial. Eby shared that it is “unacceptable” that the suspect was not held in custody.

“[It] makes people feel that they shouldn’t have confidence in our justice system, that the justice system is not keeping people safe,” Eby said.

“And that is something that all levels of government need to work on and our government is committed to working on both in prevention, but also in our advocacy with other provinces to the federal government on this,” he added.

Security footage has been circulating across social media, which apparently shows a stranger wandering the neighbourhood prior to Dunn’s death.

“Here’s a situation where someone was arrested for a crime, charges were approved by Crown Counsel, [it] went to court and that individual was seeking to be released back into [the public] he waited for trial. The Crown said, ‘Judge, please don’t do this. Please don’t release this person back into the community,’ and the judge made the decision to release this person back into the community where he’s alleged to have committed another horrific crime,” Eby claimed.

A memorial service for Dunn is reportedly planned for Wednesday, June 26 in Surrey.