BURSTExpectations of a trial next month in Terrace provincial court in connection with the hit and run death of Cameron Kerr on Nov. 18, 2018 ended when provincial prosecutors were granted a stay of proceedings against two men from Surrey on Oct. 14, 2026.
Taylor Stogryn, 36, and Conrad Wierzbicki, 34, were charged in 2025 following an intensive investigation for indignity to human remains and obstructing justice. Stogryn was also charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident.
Kerr, then 30, was struck while walking home against traffic along Hwy 16 to Terrace from New Remo where he had been attending a wake of a friend. He was later found in a ditch alongside the highway.
In a brief statement Oct. 15, 2026, Damienne Darby, the communications official for the provincial prosecution service said the “decision to stay the charge in this case was made due to a material change in circumstances that meant the charge assessment standard was no longer met.”
Within days of Kerr’s death, police identified a suspect vehicle, a 2011-2016 Ford F350 pickup truck. Tips from the public led police to discover an abandoned boat trailer associated with the case.
On Nov. 21, 2018, police announced they had identified a truck on Haida Gwaii with damage consistent with the collision and said they were confident they had identified a suspect driver who was from the Lower Mainland. They seized the suspect F350 truck, another truck and two boat trailers (in addition to the abandoned boat trailer discovered earlier). Police questioned seven people who may have been involved in the incident.
The information from that initial investigation led to a years-long effort to assemble sufficient evidence so that charges could be laid.
At the same time, Kerr’s family, along with the RCMP, conducted periodic pleas for information.
Their efforts included paying to publish a letter in several Lower Mainland newspapers in April 2020, imploring readers for information and summarizing the information they knew at the time.
“To the parents, wives, girlfriends and friends of a group of men from the Lower Mainland: In November 2018, these men set off for a fishing and hunting trip to Haida Gwaii,” the letter begins.
“After passing through Terrace, they were involved in a tragic collision … after the collision, they spent hours hiding their damaged boat trailer in the woods … they transferred the boat to the new trailer and proceeded to Haida Gwaii as if nothing had happened. The persons responsible for his death knowingly left Cameron to die alone, not caring enough to call for help.”
“Their trucks, boats and trailers were all impounded by the police, so when they returned to the Lower Mainland, it was without those possessions … If you recognize these men by this story, the family of Cameron Kerr pleads with you to urge [the suspects] to do the right thing and go to the authorities so that this nightmare can end for Cameron’s family, as well as these individuals.”
A skilled trades worker, Kerr was a well-known member of the Terrace hockey community as a former River King and as an avid outdoors enthusiast.
Donations poured in to support his family, on-ice tributes were held and his River King Number 15 jersey was retired.
In his memory and honour, the trophy for the first place finisher in the Central Interior Hockey League bears his name. There is also a Cameron Kerr scholarship presented to a graduating Caledonia Secondary School graduate each year.
Although the provincial prosecution service can release what it calls a “clear statement” in the public interest involving what it terms a “high-profile prosecution” outlining the reasons why a decision has been made, it has not chosen to do this in this case.
Releasing a statement happens when the provincial assistant deputy attorney-general determines that it is in the public interest.
In a Facebook post, Cameron’s brother Garrett Kerr said that in a meeting with police and prosecutors, family members were told that “testimony from one of their key witnesses, a forensic pathologist, would no longer support a likely conviction for the charges they had laid.”
Kerr also expressed the family’s appreciation for the work done by the RCMP and others in the justice system put into the case.
“Specifically, we know that [RCMP Sergeant] Shawn McLaughlin has poured his blood, sweat, and tears into this case from day one, and we are so thankful for everything he has done for us and for Cameron,” Kerr wrote.
“We are also amazed and eternally grateful for the support we have received from everyone around us and across Cameron’s world, every step of the way.”
The staying of a charge generally means a Crown prosecutor has put a case on hold and can restart the prosecution within one year if new evidence or circumstances arise.