Dennis Shepard Statement
Printed below is an excerpt from
Dennis Shepard’s statement at the
sentencing hearing for Aaron McKinney
on November 4, 1999. To read the full
statement, visit www.bitly/13Po1ti.
become “nice.” Matt trusted people, perhaps
too much. Violence was not a part of his life
until his senior year in high school. He would
walk into a fight and try to break it up. He
was the perfect negotiator. He could get two
people talking to each other again as no one
else could.
My son Matthew did not look like a winner. After
all, he was small for his age—weighing, at the
most, 110 pounds, and standing only 5’2” tall. He
was rather uncoordinated and wore braces from
the age of 13 until the day he died. However,
in his all too brief life, he proved that he was a
winner. My son—a gentle, caring soul—proved
that he was as tough as, if not tougher than,
anyone I have ever heard of or known. On
October 6, 1998, my son tried to show the world
that he could win again. On October 12, 1998,
my first-born son—and my hero—lost. On
October 12, my first-born son—and my hero—
died 50 days before his 22nd birthday. He died
quietly, surrounded by family and friends, with
his mother and brother holding his hand. All that
I have left now are the memories.
Matt loved people and he trusted them. He
could never understand how one person
could hurt another, physically or verbally.
They would hurt him, and he would give them
another chance. This quality of seeing only
good gave him friends around the world. He
didn’t see size, race, intelligence, sex, religion,
or the hundred other things that people use
to make choices about people. All he saw was
the person. All he wanted was to make another
person his friend. All he wanted was to make
another person feel good. All he wanted was to
be accepted as an equal.
It’s hard to put into words how much Matt
meant to family and friends and how much
they meant to him. Everyone wanted him to
succeed because he tried so hard. The spark that
he provided to people had to be experienced.
He simply made everyone feel better about
themselves. Family and friends were his focus.
He knew that he always had their support for
anything that he wanted to try.
Matt’s gift was people. He loved being with
people, helping people, and making others
feel good. The hope of a better world free of
harassment and discrimination because a
person was different kept him motivated. All his
life he felt the stabs of discrimination. Because
of that he was sensitive to other people’s
feelings. He was naive to the extent that,
regardless of the wrongs people did to him,
he still had faith that they would change and
6 | Ford’s Theatre
What did Matt’s friends think of him? Fifteen of
his friends from high school in Switzerland, as
well as his high school adviser, joined hundreds
of others at his memorial services. They left
college, fought a blizzard, and came together
one more time to say good-bye to Matt. Men
and women coming from different countries,
cultures and religions thought enough of
my son to drop everything and come to
Wyoming—most of them for the first time.
That’s why this Wyoming country boy wanted
to major in foreign relations and languages. He
wanted to continue making friends and at the
same time help others. He wanted to make a
difference. Did he? You tell me.
I loved my son and, as can be seen throughout
this statement, was proud of him. He was not
my gay son. He was my son who happened
to be gay. He was a good-looking, intelligent,
caring person. There were the usual arguments,
and at times he was a real pain in the butt. I felt
the regrets of a father when he realizes that
his son is not a star athlete. But it was replaced