Family, students attend funeral for 21-year-old Seneca student fatally shot in Toronto
Posted April 13, 2022 3:25 pm.
Last Updated April 14, 2022 2:51 pm.
A memorial was held to honour the life of 21-year-old student Kartik Vasudev — one of two men allegedly shot and killed by the same suspect in recent weeks in Toronto.
On April 7, Vasudev, was shot and killed in broad daylight outside Sherbourne subway station in what is believed to be a targeted incident. Two days later, it’s alleged the same man shot and killed 35-year-old Elijah Eleazar Mahepath near Dundas and George streets. He was later pronounced dead in the hospital.
On Tuesday, police charged Richard Jonathan Edwin, a 39-year-old from Toronto, with two counts of first-degree murder.
A funeral was held Wednesday for Vasudev at the Lotus Funeral and Cremation Centre in Etobicoke, where many gathered to remember a young man whose life was taken in a brazen act of violence.
Renata D’Innocenzo, Vice President of Students and Strategy at Seneca College, said the school dealt with a similar tragedy after the 2018 van attack in Toronto, where a former student, 22-year-old Ji Hun Kim of South Korea, was killed that day.
“It’s just horrendous. As was being said today during the memorial, students come here entrusting all of us to them and then to have someone die this tragically — it’s indescribable,” she said.
In the days following his son’s death, Jitesh Vasudev remembered his son as a great child that kept to himself.
“He was a very shy person. He’s very thoughtful… he’s just very, very private,” Jitesh said.
Kartik earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in India before starting a part-time job in the city and studying Marketing Management at Seneca College’s York campus. He had only started classes in January.
“As much as we say we can’t imagine what the parents are feeling back home, we really can’t imagine what they’re feeling back home,” D’Innocenzo added. “Having their child thousands of miles away and having this happen to them … he [Kartik] was making friends, he was doing really well.”
Most of the small crowd that attended Wednesday’s service said they didn’t know Kartik personally, with many international students sharing their shock and sympathies at the recent tragedy.
D’Innocenzo says that the school has been providing mental support in the form of counsellors and support groups to anyone that needs it. She adds that the college ultimately decided to invite any willing students to attend the funeral in Etobicoke instead of holding an event at school.
GoFundMe created in Kartik’s honour, over $61,000 raised
Vasudev’s aunt started a GoFundMe to recognize her nephew with a goal of $75,000. As of Wednesday, over 1,500 donations have been made, with more than $61,000 raised.
Saket Arora and Smriti Arora, listed as the fundraiser’s organizers, said this would help Kartik’s relatives cope during this difficult time.
“This will be to support the family who [not only] have lost their beloved son but spent all their savings and took loans to give their child a better tomorrow.”
A candlelight vigil was held by Seneca College students on Sunday afternoon at Nathan Phillips Square, with guests carrying signs that read “I am Kartik.”
“It could have been any of us,” said one of the hundreds who attended. “It could have been me, your parents, anybody. Anyone of your loved ones.”
That same day, more than 1,000 people gathered outside Vasudev’s school in India to demand justice. Jitesh said he is working with the Indian consulate in Toronto to get his son’s body back to India.
Police chief James Ramer said Vasudev and Mahepath were not known to the accused or each other, and investigators are still working to find a motive for the killings. Ramer said there was sufficient evidence to assume the suspect was planning further attacks.
With files from Michael Ranger and Nick Westoll of CityNews
