Parents, wife and baby in court on behalf of cyclist killed by motorist in November 2016
Accomplished musician, athlete and business man are some of the words family use to describe Bradley Dean.
The cyclist was killed when he and his colleagues from the Gastown Cycling Group were hit by a vehicle along River Road, in Richmond, in November 2016.
Lianne Dean says her son was a mentor to youth and a productive member of society.
The 33-year-old was also a husband.
He and his wife Adele Esnault-Oka were about to become first time parents but he didn't know that yet.
"I found out two days after he died," said Esnault-Oka holding her five-month-old daughter Amaurie outside the Richmond courthouse.
The family was there for the first appearance of the man charged in the fatal incident.
Accused faces lesser charge
Michael Wing Sing Fan, of Burnaby, is charged under the Motor Vehicle Act with driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention.
Dean's family says "this charge is an insult to Brad, his family, his friends, his community and all British Columbians."
They expected criminal charges against the accused.
"We've been shattered and we were shattered again when the charges were laid," said a disappointed Lianne Dean.
The Motor Vehicle Act charge carries a maximum penalty of $2,000 and six months in jail.
Dean was cycling with five others when the crash happened on a clear, sunny Sunday morning.
Two others were severely injured.
At the time, RCMP said, the group was cycling single-file when a vehicle coming in the opposite direction swerved into their lane and rammed into them.
The investigation into the incident took nearly a year.
The Dean family maintains RCMP told them it had recommended Crown counsel lay criminal charges against the accused.
Now, the family wants the Crown to explain why it opted to go with the lesser charge.
Daughter born after Dean died
Dean's daughter was born after his death and is now five months old.
"I just wish he could have met her. I just wish she could have had him in her life," said Esnault-Oka.
The family plans to be in court every step of the way in its quest for justice.
Fan was 19 years old at the time of the incident.
He did not appear in court — and, the matter was adjourned to January 23, 2018.
