A mother tries to move on and forgive after her son was killed in a downtown Windsor melee.

Kevin Kugathasan was murdered in downtown Windsor in October of 2013, but the person responsible has not been held accountable. 

Somehow the victim's mother, Pricilla Kugathasan, has found a way to deal with this injustice.

The downtown Windsor stabbing resulted in multiple charges, against four different people, including one of murder. Most of those charges have since been dropped. 

Pricilla Kugathasan says the death of a child is a wound that never heals.

“So much, I miss him every day,” says Pricilla Kugathasan, who lives in Scarborough, Ont.

Kugathasan remembers the last time she saw her son alive. They were together for a celebration, it was a happy time. But only 20 days afterwards, her small family was ripped apart.

“I just cried, cried and cried,” says Pricilla Kugathasan. “I cried so loudly. The day the police officer came and told me he passed away. That's the day I was crying so much.”

She'll never forget the moment she learned of her son’s death, on a doorstep, with an officer waiting.

“The guy who killed Kevin, didn't just kill Kevin, killed his mother too,” says Pricilla Kugathasan.

In the minutes before she was told of the tragedy, Pricilla had a feeling something wasn't right.  

“I called Kevin. I was thinking ‘Did you do anything? Call mom back soon.’”she  said. “He never called me and he's not like that. Normally he would call me right away. In my mind, I was like, I knew something had gone wrong.”

Kevin Kugathasan moved to Windsor from Scarborough to study criminology at the University of Windsor. He had dreams of becoming a criminal lawyer. 

In his mom's words, he was smart as a whip and chose Windsor because he felt the city was clean and safe. His mother says she and Kevin were very close and spoke on a daily basis.

But on the night of Oct. 19, it was the worst place to be. Kevin Kugathasan had just turned 19. His mother says he went to a club for the first time. But on that night, another first, she didn't speak with her son.

That fateful night, Kevin Kugathasan found himself in the middle of a vicious fight between two groups of men, one that stretched over an entire city block.

“Everybody ran. Kevin didn't, that's what his roommate said,” says Pricilla Kugathasan. “Kevin didn't run, because Kevin didn't do anything. He won’t run.”

Six men were stabbed in the melee, including Kevin Kugathasan, but his injuries were fatal.

“The coroner called me and he told me he got stab wound to the lung, heart and three to stomach,” says his mother. “The heart is one, they couldn't do anything about it.”

Reflecting on her son's life, Pricilla says Kevin loved his grandparents, but cared about all elderly people. Often carrying groceries for them or stopping to talk with them on the street.  He had a core group of high school friends, who adored his zest for life.

“It's like a combo of nice, caring, loving - all three, Kevin had it,” she says. “You won’t get a son like that in a life.”

In an instant, that gift was taken from her. 

“Everything happens for a reason,” she says. “We come to the world for a reason so i believe in that.”

Her life is forever changed, but with a resolve to find peace and move forward.

“I want that person to live a good life from now on,” she says, referring to the person who killed her son. “From the day he made the mistake. I forgive that person, they can go free.”