Stratford woman raising money, collecting items for couple shot in ‘neighborhood dispute’

Before she moved last December, Nicky Mercer lived for 14 months on the newer end of Bradshaw Drive, a stretch of row houses off McCarthy Road.

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Her family wasn’t far down the street from Johnny Bennett and Stephanie Irvine, and Mercer befriended the couple that moved to Stratford from Kitchener.

Bennett, like herself, was born in Newfoundland but grew up in Ontario.

“We bonded over that one,” Mercer said.

Bennett fixed bicycles out of his garage, and he sold one of them to Mercer’s daughter. He also made sure Bennett’s youngest son was fed hotdogs one day when the “rough and tumble” teen stopped in while Bennett was barbecuing.

“They told me he’s welcome over there any time,” she said.

Mercer, a longtime Stratford resident, often chatted with Irvine about things to do in the city and, of course, neighborhood gossip.

“Sometimes it’s difficult for me to have conversations with somebody because I tend to talk a lot, and she’s the same way,” Mercer said. “It’s easy to carry on a conversation with her.”

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More than anything, Bennett and Irvine loved their family, Mercer said.

They shared a two-year-old daughter, and Irvine had teenage daughters from a previous relationship.

“They’re both about the kids,” she said. “They love those kids.”

Mercer quickly reached out last week once word spread online there’d been a shooting in her old neighborhood. One of her texts went to Irvine.

“I knew something was going on and I wanted to make sure they were OK. When I didn’t get a message back, I got worried.”

Bennett died Aug. 1 after Ricky Bilcke, who lived across the street, escalated a “neighborhood dispute” into gunfire. Bilcke also shot Irvine and neighbor David Tokley before turning his gun on himself.

Irvine remains in hospital after a second surgery on Sunday, but she was in good spirits when Mercer visited Monday for more than two hours.

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“She has some pain and a long road ahead of her,” she said.

Mercer has started a GoFundMe page to help pay for bills, food, essentials and housing costs, as well as Bennett’s funeral.

“It would be amazing if they had something to help towards a place they felt safe in when Steph is able to come home,” Mercer wrote.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, 17 donations had raised more than $1,300 toward the $2,500 goal.

“It’s going to take a lot more to get through,” Mercer said. “The higher we can get it, the better.”

Mercer is also collecting new or gently used items for couple’s children. Items needed are:

• Girls’ toddler clothes (size T6), diapers (size 5-6) and pull-ups (size 6)
• Ladies’ clothing (size XS and XL)
• Ladies’ shoes (size 7 and 8)

Items can be dropped off at 8 Laurier St. in Stratford on the couch inside the mud room or beside the front door. For more information, contact Mercer on Facebook (account name: Nicky Ykcin).

[email protected]

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