NARRAGANSETT, R.I. (WLNE) — It’s been 25 years since a young girl from Narragansett was killed by a drunk driver and since then, her parents have made it their life mission to educate people about the dangers of driving under the influence and substance abuse. John and Meg DeCubellis’ daughter, 13-year-old Katie, was hit and killed by a drunk driver while traveling in a car with her friend Becky and Becky’s mom, Marsha Bowman. Marsha Bowman was also killed in the crash. “She was just this incredible person who was always thinking about others,” John DeCubellis said about his daughter. “It feels like an eternity but also feels like it was just yesterday,” John said. “At that moment, at that day, you never know its going to be the last time you actually get to see her and I play that over in my mind for 25 years, I don’t think I’ve forgotten any detail.” Katie would have celebrated her 38th birthday this past September. “We’ve been great wonderful times, we’ve been very blessed with all of our other family members and everything that’s happened to us but there’s always that void there, where Katies not part of it, so it’s often bittersweet but it doesn’t go away,” John said. “We think about Katie everyday, we deal with it everyday.” John said he and his wife have spent the last 25 years speaking to thousands of people about the dangers of drunk driving through the Katie DeCubellis Memorial Foundation. “Hopefully, if one of the 200,000 plus people we’ve spoken to makes a better decision, then Katie and Marsha Bowman’s deaths aren’t in vain and that’s why we do what we do,” John said. It’s the family’s way of keeping Katie’s legacy and spirit alive. Through the foundation, they’ve donated nearly $500,000 in scholarships and prizes. “With everybody’s support, together, I think we’ve accomplished a lot in the last 25 years and we could not have done that alone and we’re just eternally grateful to everyone,” he said. The man convicted of killing Katie DeCubellis and Marsha Bowman is out of prison. John said although he is not entitled to forgiveness, if he’s making his community a better place, then the door is always open for that forgiveness, but says he’s not sure if he’s earned it. Categories: News, Rhode Island