Justice for Ke Chieh Meng

Hello, this is Yi (James) Bai. I am Ke Chieh Meng's only son.

My mother was brutally attacked while she was walking her dogs in the La Sierra Neighborhood of Riverside California. She was stabbed multiple times in the abdomen by her killer and then left to die on the sidewalk. Residents of the neighborhood found my mom and called emergency services. An ambulance came and transported my mother to the hospital where she soon died from her injuries. The most frustrating part about this incident was that my moms killer was arrested on March 30th for attempted murder, but was released due to COVID-19 restrictions. My mom's killer was released with no supervision, no house arrest, and nothing to prevent the killer from attempting to kill again. Only this time she was successful and my mom was the victim.


My mother meant everything to me. She gave me the chance to pursue the American dream,  and live out my life in America.  We came to the US as immigrants back in 1998 when she was 42 and I was only 8 Years old.  We both came here with only understanding 3 American words. "Yes, No, and Ok".  As a single parent and an only child, we shared a bond that cannot be explained with a simple sentence. Not knowing English, and working in a country that was foreign to us was very hard. What kept my mom motivated and determined, was providing me with food, shelter, and having access to a good education. 


 After many years of struggles, I was able to finally live out my American Dream last year where I married my beautiful wife, Sian. We bought a new house in Dallas, and my career began to take off. Upon this success, I was finally able to take care of my mother, and help her move on to the next steps in her life. She was so excited to be a grandmother, so excited to watch me become a dad, so excited to retire, and most importantly, finally live out her American dream as well. She was supposed to visit me in May, now that she has finally got her COVID Vaccine, but now she will never be able to do so.

My mother lived a very simple life.  Everyday she walked her two beautiful babies(Dogs), Xiao Bao, ("Little Treasure" -in Chinese) and Mimi in the neighborhood.  She would always take the time to stop and say "Hello" and smile to every single person and animal that comes across her path.  After her morning walk, you could find her in her backyard garden planting fruits and vegetables.  She also loved cooking and looking up new recipes so she could share it with all of her family, friends and loved ones.

The detective and law enforcement shared with me that, once she was wounded from the attacker, she still made an effort to make it back home with her dogs leash still in hand but was unable and collapsed on the sidewalk before being discovered. I truly believe all she wanted to do was make sure her dogs got back home safely since she was only a short distance away from her home. Fortunately the killer was unable to injure the dogs, due to my moms efforts of always putting other things before her.

We will be using the funds to seek legal action against the state government.  The killer that was previously released should have never been outside, considering her intentions to kill a different victim were only a few days prior.  She should've been kept in jail or possibly released with strict supervision, but the government failed to do so. 

This incident could've happened to one of your loved ones, maybe even a friend. But I believe we must protect our loved ones and our community to make sure this doesn't happen again. No one should have to experience the suffering and grief that me and my family now have to go through due to the actions of the local authorities and the killer that we feel, could've easily been prevented with simple caution and awareness.

Regarding the increase in Asian hate crimes, There is no solid proof at this time as t why my mom was murdered. What I do know is that my Mom is Asian, there were multiple people walking their dogs on the road that morning prior to my mom. I do believe her ethnicity had something to do with it due to the increase in Asian hate crimes here recently.

I've linked some interviews and articles talking about what happened to my mother below. I've also attached some of my favorite photos of her and I. 

CNN News Article 
Washington Post News Article 
NBC LA Article And Interview