Community mourns 16-year-old crash victim
Published 5:23 pm Monday, June 18, 2012
The greater Niles community is mourning the loss of 16-year-old Dilan Shearer, a Buchanan High School student who died in an automobile accident Sunday afternoon.
Police say Shearer had just left a Father’s Day party and was on his way to a relative’s home when he lost control of his vehicle. The car rolled and hit a tree on Oak Forrest Road just south of Curran Road in Bertrand Township at 1:49 p.m.
Shearer
Shearer, of Niles, would have been a junior at Buchanan High School in the fall. By all accounts, he was very popular and well liked.
“He was a good friend, and he was definitely there when you needed him. He always put a smile on your face,” said Kaysie Grice, Buchanan freshman.
Grice created a Facebook group “R.I.P. Dilan Shearer.” It had more than 140 members as of Monday afternoon.
“I knew he was going to be missed by a lot of people,” Grice said. “He was a really great person. He always acknowledged you no matter what. He would always be cracking jokes — so you could hear him a mile away.”
Shearer’s cousin, Aaron Pastryk, said he would always remember Shearer’s personality.
“He was the funniest guy I ever met and a real lady’s man,” Pastryk said. “I haven’t met anyone that didn’t like him. He was always friendly and always put you in a good mood.”
Good friend Katelyn Smuda said Shearer was always the life of the party, always smiling and never complaining.
“He always knew how to cheer me up when I was down. He really was my best friend,” said Smuda, 15, of Niles.
The accident remains under investigation.
Sergeant Steve Campbell, of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department, said alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the crash. Campbell said the accident occurred as Shearer was going over a hillcrest.
Shearer’s father, Darick Shearer, is a member of the Bertrand Township Fire Department, which was first on the scene. Fire Chief Bill Knisely said Darick was not among the firefighters responding to the call.
Knisely said Niles Township firefighters took control of the scene for Bertrand Township Fire due to the circumstances.
