Durham Police identify man killed in Ajax stabbing – Durham’s eighth murder of the year

Durham Police confirmed the identity of the man killed in today’s early morning stabbing in Ajax.

The victim, Mahishan Kugathasan, 19 of Scarborough, was dropped off at the Ajax-Pickering hospital around 2 a.m. December 23 suffering multiple stab wounds, causing “significant trauma,” per police.

Hospital staff reported his injuries to police and confirmed he was being treated. Kugathasan was transported to a Toronto-area trauma centre where he succumbed to his wounds.

The DRPS Homicide Unit has taken over the investigation, spearheaded by Detective Victor Alves. This is the eighth murder in Durham Region in 2021 and the second in Ajax this quarter.

The last was the killing of Maurice Fullerton, 33, who was shot in his Ajax home on Remembrance Day, November 11. Police tracked three suspects to an Oshawa home leading to a day-long standoff. The trio was arrested that afternoon.

Prior to Kugathasan’s death, Durham Region was a week away from the lowest murder rate in three years, according to Interim Chief Todd Rollauer’s year-end update to the Police Board.

The Region lost seven people to homicide this year, as of Rollauer’s brief. Kugathasan’s death puts the number to eight, the same number as 2019. In 2020, nine people were slain.

According to Rollauer, four of the seven homicide investigations of 2021 had been solved.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation can call Detective Alves at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 5407 or CrimeStoppers at  1-800-222-TIPS (8477).