Twenty-five-year-old Darby Chase Shade also known as Darby Soop in the fight community was murdered in cold blood Tuesday night in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Soop was a talented mixed martial arts fighter as well as an amateur boxer and his goal was to move away from Calgary as it has caused nothing but problems for him and turn pro in either sport. According to a Facebook post from January 1st, this was going to be his year. Instead, it did not last long and ended in tragedy.
Police arrived on the scene at Calgary’s Westbrook Mall. Upon arrival police noticed many people fleeing for my house party located across the street from the mall. A member of the fight community from Calgary passed along some information that stated that Soop (who was a tall intimidating looking man) was approached by two men who knew he had a fighting background and challenged him to fight. It is believed that the two men had attacked the fighter with a machete or some sort of blade which resulted in stab wounds. Police are currently seeking two suspects in connection with the murder. Christian White Whitebear, 25 and Matthew Crane – Watchmaker, 19, are wanted in connection with the murder and are currently wanted on other warrants as well.
Soop was a friend of mine. He was one of the first friends that I made when I moved to Canada. We both worked at the Scotiabank Theatre in West Edmonton Mall and we became friends immediately due to the fact that we are both from California and we both loved boxing. I was training at the West Edmonton Knights boxing club and Soop would always try to get me to spar with him. He was Native American and we would talk about his culture and he would tell me how much he loved my Mexican culture. He did not rub everyone the right way with his views and opinions but overall he was a great person and he will be missed.
Julio Garcia
