Is the Lapu Lapu Day massacre suspect fit to stand trial? Vancouver judge to decide today

A judge is expected to rule today on whether or not the suspect of a deadly attack at a Vancouver festival is fit to stand trial.

Adam Kai-Ji Lo, 30, was arrested on April 26 , after a truck drove into a crowd of people attending the Filipino Lapu Lapu Day Festival. Among the 11 people who were killed was a five-year-old girl and her parents . Dozens more were injured.

Lo is facing 11 counts of second-degree murder.

He is expected to appear in court on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. PDT.

In July, the court heard from two psychiatrists in an effort to determine if Lo is capable, mentally, of standing trial, Global News reported . A person would be considered unfit during the trial if their “mental health declines to the point where they no longer can understand” what’s happening, lawyer in the community law program at Community Legal Assistance Society, Jonathan Blair, told The Tyee . That would result in pausing the trial until the person has recovered.

“In short: as long as a person can understand that they’re on trial, decide if they want to plead guilty or not and communicate that to the court, the trial can proceed,” said Blair.

At the time of the attack, British Columbia’s Health Ministry said Lo was in the care of a Vancouver Coastal Health team.

“I can tell you that the person we have in custody does have a significant history of interactions with police and health care professionals related to mental health,” said Chief Constable Steve Rai at a news conference in April .

Much of what was said during the hearing in July about Lo’s fitness to stand trial has remained under publication ban. However, a media consortium challenged the ban, which asserts that evidence cannot be published until the ban is lifted or the trial is over, The Canadian Press reported.

The judge is also expected to rule on the challenge to the publication ban on Wednesday.

• B.C. teen who lost family in Lapu Lapu Day tragedy donates $266K from GoFundMe page to other victims
• Amy Hamm: Vancouver car-ramming exposes B.C.'s crumbling mental health system

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