Longtime prosecutor, punk singer dead at 64 after bicycle crash in Glencoe
John Kezdy, the singer for the Chicago punk rock band the Effigies and a longtime prosecutor with the Illinois state's attorney general's office, died Saturday, three days after he was riding his bicycle in Glencoe and struck an Amazon van that was stopped along a roadway.
Mr. Kezdy, an avid cyclist who lived in Highland Park, was pedaling along Sheridan Road Wednesday in the intense afternoon heat of last week's heat wave when he slammed into the back of the delivery van that was stopped, with its hazard lights flashing, according to Andrew Perley, deputy chief of the Glencoe police department.
It's unclear why Mr. Kezdy, who had a clear line of sight and continued pedaling to the point of impact, didn't brake or swerve to avoid the van, according to Perley, who said investigators have video showing the accident.
Mr. Kezdy, who died at Evanston Hospital, was 64.
No citations have been issued. Perley said heat might have been a factor.
Mr. Kezdy, a graduate of Evanston Township High School, formed the Effigies in 1980 after dropping out of the University of Wisconsin. The band played Chicago clubs and toured the United States in a van. The Effigies recorded three albums of original songs, including "Body Bag," while making a name for themselves between 1980 and 1986, when the band broke up.
The group earned a measure of fame playing alongside bands including Hüsker Dü, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Toy Dolls and Naked Raygun, a band that featured Mr. Kezdy's late brother Pierre Kezdy, who died in 2020.
The Effigies even opened for Run-DMC once at the Vic Theatre.
• This report was produced in partnership with the Chicago Sun-Times. For more, visit chicago.suntimes.com.