Kemar Mitchell to Face Court July 17 Over Kemelia Paul Murder Charge

Kemar Mitchell, a 28-year-old carpenter from Harbour Heights in Harbour View, St Andrew, is to go before the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court on July 17 on a murder charge tied to the fatal stabbing of Kemelia Paul.

Kemelia, a 13-year-old student of Excelsior High School, died in hospital on Tuesday from injuries she received during a May 9 incident at her home. Mitchell was charged on Wednesday, the day after her death.

Police say Mitchell visited the child's home on Everest Drive in Harbour View, where a quarrel started between him and one of Kemelia's relatives. Investigators reported that the disagreement became physical, and Kemelia stepped in.

The police allege that Mitchell stabbed the teenager in the stomach with a knife and then left the property.

Kemelia was taken to hospital, where she spent several weeks in critical condition and was at one stage in a coma. Her fight to stay alive drew national attention, and news of her death prompted widespread sorrow.

Before she died, family members had been hopeful after she came out of the coma and appeared to be improving. Her mother, Josephine Mitchell, told The Gleaner on Tuesday that she had seen Kemelia earlier that day and doctors advised that the child had developed an infection. She said she was still at the hospital when she was told her daughter had died.