The first homicide victim of 2014 in London, Ont., had a difficult first year in the city.
When Jeremy ‘Beau’ Taylor first arrived in the southwestern Ontario city, he spent over a year living under a bridge at a local park, Taylor’s cousin Steve Boyle told CTV London.
And though Taylor had a home by the time he was killed in late May, he never lost his compassion for other people living on the streets.
“The whole idea with Beau was that every time he walked by a homeless guy, he would sit down and talk with them for a minute,” Boyle said. “I actually watched him physically give the shirt off his back to somebody.”
Taylor was stabbed to death in front of his house on May 24, 2014. Adam Dale Keith, 27, an acquaintance of Taylor’s, has been charged with second-degree murder.
Now Taylor’s friends and family are trying to carry on the 28-year-old’s legacy of giving.
Boyle and other people who knew and loved Taylor gathered in London’s Victoria Park this week to distribute care packages to homeless people and anybody else who felt they needed one.
The packs contained everything from deodorant and crackers, to protein-packed peanut butter and socks. There were some bags specifically for men, and some for women. Boyle said the volunteers called the bundles “blessing bags.”
The bags were free on one condition: that the recipients pay the action forward with another good deed. As people leaned over to pick up their parcels, Boyle called out to make sure everybody understood the terms.
“Pay it forward to somebody else,” he said. “Buy somebody a coffee some time 10 years down the road and we'll call it even.”
The bags and the pay-it-forward agreements were all dedicated to the memory of Taylor – someone who Boyle remembers as being generous and empathetic.
With files from Cristina Howorun
