Edmonton's Chinatown community remembers two men killed in unprovoked attack

More than 100 people gathered in Edmonton's Chinatown on Friday to honour two men brutally killed in an unprovoked attack last year.

Hung Trang, 64, and Ban Phuc Hoang, 61, both died after they were assaulted on May 18, 2022. Trang had been at the Chinatown autobody shop where he worked, while Hoang was in his nearby electronics shop.

Hoang was pronounced dead at the scene, while Trang died in hospital on May 19, 2022.

On Friday afternoon, traffic in the area around the intersection of 106th Avenue and 98th Street was diverted while the memorial service took place.

Fruit, incense and flowers covered an altar with pictures of Hoang and Trang under a white tent where community members and the men's families gathered to pay their respects.

Trang's daughter, Christina Trang, told the crowd she hopes her father is remembered for making Edmonton's Chinatown a safer place.

But she said not enough has been done to promote community safety in the year since her father was killed.

"I'm very passionate about trying to avoid another situation like this. Any family should not experience what we've gone through," she said.

"We need to see action on long term plans, not just empty promises. … How does our city council feel they are doing what is best for Edmontonians? The current approach is not working."

Justin Bone has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder in the killings.

A CBC News investigation revealed last year that three days before Hoang and Trang were killed, RCMP officers picked up Bone from a family friend's home in Alberta Beach after Bone allegedly threatened the friend over a demand for money.

Bone had been staying at the home as part of a condition of his release from the Edmonton Remand Centre after he was charged in a break-and-enter.

Mounties then drove Bone into west Edmonton, where they dropped him off unsupervised, in contravention of a bail condition barring him from being in the city alone.

Safety in Chinatown

At Friday's memorial, Trang and Hoang's family members sat together during the emotional ceremony.

Anthony Hai, owner and operator of Albert's Auto Body, where Trang worked for more than three decades, said the death affected everyone at the business.

"The guy worked all his life, for close to 40 years, and then all of a sudden got his life taken away, so it's pretty hard to comprehend what happened," Hai said.

"He only had nine months left until his retirement."

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi, Edmonton Police Service Chief Dale McFee, and Ward O-day'min Coun. Anne Stevenson also attended the memorial.

Stevenson said she wants Edmontonians and Chinatown community members to feel safe.

"If people don't feel safe, they can't contribute fully to the community, and we all miss out as a result of that," she said.

As part of the response to the killings, the provincial and municipal government both launched efforts to improve safety in the area.

The city funded a police operations hub in Chinatown as part of a safety initiative that includes increasing the number of police and peace officers in the area.

But Christina Trang said it's not working, and the continuing concentration of social services in the neighbourhood is making things worse.

"We need the city council and the mayor to help us because those empty promises in the safety plan that was delivered to [Justice] Minister [Tyler] Shandro, the long-term plans are not happening," she said.