“A nightmare, a true nightmare.”
Lynne Beaudouy says the last four weeks have been the hardest of her life.
In early February, her son, Lucas Gaudet, was stabbed during an altercation outside St. Thomas high school in Pointe Claire. He was brought to hospital, where he later died. He was 16 years old.
“I wouldn’t wish it on any parent to have to lose their child in such a violent, tragic way,” she said. Beaudouy spent her Saturday marching down Park Ave. in Montreal. Family and friends joined her to walk and mourn her son’s loss of life, and to reckon with a troubling streak of violence in the city, leaving several minors dead since the beginning of 2021.
That list includes 17-year-old Amir Benayad, shot to death in Le Plateau neighborhood in January; Jannai Dopwell Bailey, 16, stabbed and killed in November, 2021; Thomas Trudel, 16, killed the same month; and Meriem Boundaoui, a 15-year old, shot in a drive-by in February of that year.
Gaudet’s death sent shock-waves through the tightly knit community.
Many were left “broken hearted,” according to Nicole Demers, whose son played hockey with Gaudet. She says he had visited her house with other friends just days before the incident.
“You can’t fix a broken heart overnight. It’s the worst nightmare a mother, a parent, could feel.”
While families and friends griev, his friends say they feel unsafe at school.
“We shouldn’t need to lose kids’ lives at this age, it’s just not right,” said one of Gaudet’s best friends, Aiden Landry. Landry carried a sign that read “STOP YOUTH VIOLENCE.” A friend comforted him as he spoke.
“People think it’s cool to act violent and aggressive,” said another member of Gaudet’s closest circle, Samuel Mariampillai, who spoke to CTV News with an arm around Landry.
“This is somebody that we have memories with. This is someone who had a family. This is a real, breathing person,” said Jasiyah Cromwell-Henry, another close friend of Gaudet.
The march was organized by Tyler Gallaher-Ryan, who told CTV he hadn’t known Gaudet personally, but that he had come to know him through the memories of his friends and family. Gaudet’s mother, Beaudouy, has taken to calling him “Ty” for short.
I have echoed other community members’ calls for more funding for youth centers and after school activities — options to help kids find outlets other than violence. He says he hopes that funding comes soon, ahead of the next tragedy.
“This is a problem that’s now. It needs to be fixed now,” he said. “It could be a tomorrow that the next kid is dead.”“There’s no reason a teen should be carrying a gun or a knife.”
Other attendees said they’d like to see more therapy options in schools.
“The kid that did this to Lucas, maybe he had pain in his heart,” said Demers. “Why hold a knife or a weapon? [Students should be able to] talk about it.”
SHIFTING STRATEGIES ON THE WAY
“We’ve all been shocked by what happened in the last months, having young people who died the way they did, it’s not acceptable,” said Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante in a February news conference.
She was joined by Vincent Richer, chief inspector of the Montreal police force, to announce a series of conferences and workshops with the end goal of revamping the city’s response to youth violence.
Millions of dollars have already been allocated to combating gang crime and firearm trafficking, partially through police funding, and added money for community groups.
The city will also get more than half of a provincial pot totaling $52 million, announced in December, 2021, to counter violent crime.
The next conference from the city will take place on March 31, and Beaudouy plans to attend.
As for Gaudet’s school board, Lester B. Pearson, a spokesperson told CTV it’s reviewing anti-violence policies and “actively working with police and community groups to address this societal issue,” according to Derren Becker.
“We have also established a school safety sub-committee to better understand the needs of students, some of whom are more vulnerable to these behaviours.”