May it please the Court, I represent my son, Kevin Persaud, who is not here.  More than anything else, I do this to honor him, because, had the roles been reversed, he would be standing here today.  There are no words to describe what follows when your son is stripped from your life.

From the Cradle to the Grave, RESPECT, HONOR AND OBEY....You are a good son and so very brave.  You make me proud Kevin.  I taught him this from an early age.

On November 23, 1988, my son was placed in my arms for the first time, just minutes after he took his first breath.  He was so precious, his face so flawless, his skin so soft and I whispered, "I LOVE YOU SON", (for the first time).  From then on, every breath I take was for Kevin.

On March 5, 2006.  I was led to a cold table where my beautiful son lay, this time his face was not flawless, his skin was not soft anymore, only cold, very cold, and I whispered, "I LOVE YOU SON! WAKE UP SON"!, (for the last time).

Now that he is gone, I feel incomplete and empyt....although I know I still have my other son, Trevor, who is ever loved by us and with whom we also have a great relationship with as well, although Trevor is my only reason to keep on breathing now, it's still not easy to fill the huge void that Kevin left.

Kevin and I had a special father and son relationship.  He was my pride and joy.....He never had to ask a second time for anything in life but at the same time he never took advantage of what was given to him.  From the first day of his and his brother's life, we made a strong commitment to keep them safe and protected.  I was always the one to get them both off to school in the morning, I would get their lunch packed and dropped them off to school, then I will pick them up and make them their favorite snacks until dinner, I have done all this ever since they started to go to school up until today.

We always knew where or with whom he is with at any time -  which leaves us puzzled now....how could we be so present in his life, and at the same time this horrible thing still happened??....One moment that we missed and .....He was gone.....

Whenever Kevin had to go out anywhere, he was never left to look for a ride, myself or my wife would take him where ever he wanted to go and would pick up him back.  He had a curfew, he can only go out on Friday and Saturday night, but had to be back home by 12 midnight, he would never be late coming home nor would he ever miss any of our phone calls, if he did, he would call us back in less than 5 minutes.

On Saturday, March 4, 2006, my wife dropped Kevin and his friend over to another friend's house to hang out for a bit, and he was to be picked up back by 12 midnight.  Usually, I would always call him 15mins before he gets picked up, just to make sure everything is ok with him.  It was all a routine for us, so that night I called him between 11:30 to 11:45, his phone was off, I tried calling him three more times and still the phone is off, I instantly got worried because it's not like him to have his phone off when its time to be picked up by his mom.  So my wife and I left home right away to go out and look for him at his friends house. We got there and no one was there, so we drove to the corner store, which is nearby, knowing that they would go there sometimes to hang out. 

As we're heading to the corner store, we drove right into the crime scene, with the police tapes and their cruisers all parked up, we tried three times to get out of the area but keep on coming back to the same scene which is right at the school park.

We got out of the car and told two of the police officers that we are looking for our son and he is usually in this area, and we are calling him on his cell phone but its off, and it is now 12:20 and he is never late nor never have his phone off, and we are extremely worried about him.  The officers then asked us for some ID, I gave them my driver's license, they came back to me within 5 minutes and said that we should go to 43 Division and speak with Det. John Biggerstaff,  around 12:30am we headed over to the station and we waited there gather bits and pieces of information, arond 6:00am we were accompanied downtown to identify our son.  And that was the day I died with my son when I saw his lifeless body.

As any loving parents, we have invested heavily in our son emotionally, we developed dreams for his future.  As Kevin grew older, we noted special talents and interest in him. Kevin spent alot of quality time with us talking to us about his career aspirations and his future goals in life.

We invested financially in those dreams, we purchased insurance policies to ensure that he would have enough money when we die (ISN'T THAT IRONIC?) We have paid for braces, swimming lessons, ice skating and Karate lessons, basketball practice and football practice.  We have encouraged him to develop skills in all different kinds of sports and physical activities like football and basketball.  We bought him high end computers to help him achieve his goals in school, we have set aside funds to help him through college.

We would gladly pay it all again, and a thousand times over, if we could have our son back, but it isn't possible.  It has helped to know that our financial investment was symbolic of our emotional investment, it also help us to understand that his death seems so deeply wrong.

Having our son losing his life so young and in such a cruel and senseless way is not only to lose someone you feel driven to nurture and protect, but it is also to lose all hopes and dreams for the future.

No words can ever describ the pain of losing Kevin on that horrible night on March 4, 2006, a great part of myself died along with him.  All my hope and dreams are gone.  He will never graduate from high school, go to college or become the football player he dreamed of, nor experience the special love of a wife and children.  All those things he spoke of so often are gone, and with them is my future.  The void will be with me for the rest of my life.

Kevin Persaud is not just a murder victim, Kevin is a son, a brother, a friend, and so much more.  For those of us that love him, nothing has been the same since his life was prematurely stolen from him and from us.

Kevin was connected through so many aspects of so many lives, Kevin had grown to become the heart and future of the family's home and business.  We, as Kevin's parents, were included in his dreams for the future and it breaks our heart to remember those dreams.  He was dedicated to take care of his parents when they retired.  His plans were to someday play football in the CFL and was hoping to make it into the NFL, and he would always say to us that when he does, his parents won't ever have to work so hard anymore.  He would buy me a brand new van for the business and buy his mom a sports car and she would be "a cool little old lady".

Kevin never pass a friend or family on the streets without a hug and kiss.  Kevin was the person with a strong sense of obligation and responsibility, and a lot of people's lives and futures were closely connected with his in so many ways, so when Kevin was murdered, some of us may have lost a brother or friend, but many of us also lost livelihoods, futures and security.....I miss you son, you did not die, you will be with me forever.  No Coward can hur you anymore, you are safe from all danger.