‘I want him back’: Grieving mother of teen fatally stabbed prepares for Christmas without her son

The family of Lucas Gaudet, the teenager who was fatally stabbed outside a West Island school in February, is feeling his loss even more around the holidays.

“I miss him. I want him back,” said mother Lynne-Marie Baudouy. “This pain is never going to go away. It’s a constant, constant void that I don’t know how to fill. I don’t think it will ever be filled.”

BACKGROUND: John Rennie student Lucas Gaudet remembered by family, friends, and the West Island community

It’s been a very difficult year for the Gaudet family. Sixteen-year-old Lucas would have been in his graduating year at John Rennie High School.

The teen was stabbed Feb. 8 in an altercation outside another nearby school, and died of his injuries Feb. 10.

“Christmas is going to be extremely hard,” said Baudouy. “I remember last Christmas, I was working that day and all the kids there were like, ‘no, no, we have to wait for mom to get back to home, back from work so we can open the gifts when she’s there with us.’ And I’m so happy that they did that. Because that was the last time I got to see Lucas open up his gifts.”

Baudouy and Lucas’ friend Anouk van der Griend wanted to bring the holiday spirit to the memorial tree planted outside John Rennie. They decorated it with ornaments.

“Lucas isn’t here with us for the first time, and it’s extremely hard,” said his mother. “So I figured why not put a little joy into it, into the kids’ lives too right who are missing him at John Rennie also.”

READ MORE:

• Community mourns teenage stabbing victim Lucas Gaudet at hockey-rink memorial
• ‘Stop Youth Violence’: Montrealers march to remember teenager killed in stabbing

“It still doesn’t make sense to me,” said Anouk. “I still have to remind myself that he’s not here, which is just like mind blowing because he should be in school right now. We should still be friends. We should be talking every day. I miss his smile. I miss him a lot. I miss everything about him.”

In June, a 16-year-old was sentenced to five years for Lucas’ death. The teen, who is a minor and cannot be identified, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder and one count of aggravated assault.

“From my understanding is that we’re trying to rehabilitate him, right?” said Baudouy. “So he doesn’t redo or so he doesn’t make these mistakes again, you know. But was it fair? Absolutely not. My son’s not here. He gets to spend his Christmas. He gets to go see his parents after when he’s done his term, or his parents can go and visit him.

“Where can I go visit my son?”

Montreal mother mourns son killed in stabbing

Baudouy says she now has to live one day at a time and keep strong for her other children, hoping to send a message to youth.

“Don’t resort to violence,” she said. “Because look what happened… We’re decorating a tree for my son when he should be at home.”