Toronto, d. 31.August.2009

Fundraiser for Sheppard burial
by Megan O'Toole, National Post

Friends of Darcy Allan Sheppard are organizing a fundraiser to help cover burial costs for the bike courier who died Monday after an altercation involving a vehicle driven by Michael Bryant, Ontario's former attorney-general.

The Toronto Bike Messenger Assocation has set up a Facebook page to convey details about the event, which is scheduled for Sept. 19, which the venue still to be announced. Dozens of people have alreaday signed up to attend.

Mary Hayward, a bike courier and member of the association who worked with Mr. Sheppard last winter, says the idea "came together quickly" in the wake of the tragedy. The fundraiser will feature picture of Mr. Sheppard, and those who knew him will be invited to share stories. Organizers are planning to sell refreshments and hold a raffle, Mr. Hayward said, with the proceeds to be used for the burial process and any leftovers going to Mr. Sheppard's children.

The courier's body will be transported back to Mr. Sheppard's family in Alberta, who have expressed appreciation for the guesture, Mr. Hayward said.

"He was a very nice, upbeat kind of guy," Mr. Hayward said. "I assumed this would be a good way [to remember him], something worth doing."

Mess Media - links to articles pertaining to Sheppard's death.

Victim identified in Bryant case
By Kate Hammer, Globe and Mail, September 1, 2009

The victim in a fatal accident involving former attorney general Michael Bryant was a 33-year-old bike courier named Darcy Allen Sheppard, The Globe and Mail has learned.

Mr. Sheppard had been working for Action Messenger since January, according to an employee who answered the company's phone. She said that Mr. Sheppard was well like and that a customer had recently sent a letter to the company just to say what a pleasure it was working with Mr. Sheppard.

The ordeal began around 9:45 p.m. last night, on Bloor Street between Bay Street and Avenue Road, at a traffic light. Police said a cyclist and a man in a convertible got into an "altercation."

Raajiv Rajadurai, 23, said he was in an eastbound vehicle on Bloor Street when he saw a cyclist slam his backpack onto the hood of a convertible and then grab the driver's side mirror as the vehicle sped away. "The driver was going so fast that at one point the biker was holding on to his car and there were sparks coming from the bottom of his shoes," he said. "It seemed like the driver was trying to shake him off because he turned really suddenly, put on the brakes, jetted it one last time and then all your hear is three thumps and then the guy falls on the floor."

Mr. Bryant will be charged with criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving causing death, a police source tells the Globe.