Heartbreak has gripped the family of 13-year-old Excelsior High School student Kemelia Paul, who succumbed to her injuries after being stabbed during a family dispute on May 9.

The devastating news was confirmed by the teen's heartbroken mother, Josephine Mitchell, who yesterday told THE STAR that Kemelia passed away. For the mother who watched her child battle for life for more than a month, the pain was almost too much to bear. During a brief phone call with THE STAR, words were scarce, but Mitchell's anguished cries pierced the conversation while, in the background, prayers and choruses seeking strength and comfort for the family could be heard. In a voice note to the news team, she said “Jesus, I can’t say RIP to my daughter.”

Reports are that Kemelia sustained critical injuries when she was stabbed while trying to quell a domestic dispute in Bayshore Park, in the vicinity of Harbour View, St Andrew. According to Mitchell in a previous interview, her daughter, who lived with her father and aunt, was stabbed in the stomach while attempting to separate an altercation involving a cousin and the father of the cousin's child. The alleged attacker, who reportedly had a restraining order against him, went to the home determined to confront his child's mother.