Teen in coma after St Andrew stabbing; St James police flag women’s killings; Speaker halts Patwa in sectoral debate

A 13-year-old Excelsior High School pupil, Chameleia Paul, is unconscious in critical care at Kingston Public Hospital after she was stabbed while relatives tried to break up a violent domestic dispute in the Bayshore Park area near Harbour View, St Andrew, on the night of Saturday 9 May 2026.

Relatives name the wanted man as Kimar Mitchell, said to be the father of her cousin’s child. Police are still searching for him. The confrontation at the family home began shortly after 10:00 p.m., according to the account given to media. Relatives say a restraining order had already been sought over alleged abuse toward the woman involved.

Josephine Mitchell, the girl’s mother, said she and another relative moved to pull the man off the woman when she felt a blow to her abdomen and realised she had been stabbed; the child collapsed shortly afterwards with heavy bleeding. The man is accused of continuing to threaten others with a knife before running off despite neighbours giving chase.

Emergency surgery on Sunday aimed to stop severe internal bleeding; scans then showed extensive liver damage, and clinicians scheduled a further urgent operation. The mother says she must obtain costly specialised theatre supplies—including items she referred to as an “endogia” handle, vascular reloads, and a “liquor shore” handle—and needs donated blood. She told reporters she has about $70,000 while one required device alone is priced near $100,000, adding quietly, “It’s life on debt now.” Relatives describe the teenager as bright and well behaved; she had passed exams for a preferred school. Anyone who can help may reach Josephine Mitchell at 876-597-9998. Police say inquiries continue.

Separately, the St James Police Division says it is alarmed by a cluster of homicides involving women. Commander Aaron Samuels told journalists on Tuesday evening that many recent cases point to disputes between people who know each other. He said 12 murders recorded in the parish since the start of the year fall into that pattern.

He listed several incidents: Corora Thompson, 38, fatally shot on 22 April while selling books at the Montego Bay New Testament Church of God; Melissa Kerry Samnath, 37, an American visitor found dead on 29 April during a birthday trip, with a post-mortem recorded as homicide; Kadine Bezwick, 38, discovered with multiple stab wounds at home in Catherine Hall on 1 May after neighbours heard screams; and Jesset Blake, 32, shot dead on 9 May near People’s Arcade in Montego Bay.

Samuels said detectives have charged someone in custody over Bezwick’s death. In Samnath’s case he named her husband, Dean Watson, as a person of interest and asked the public for sightings, saying intelligence suggested he may be moving between Montego Bay and St Ann. He urged residents to alert police early when domestic or personal arguments look as if they could turn lethal.

In Kingston on Wednesday, Opposition spokesperson on creative industries, culture and information Nikisha Burchell began her maiden sectoral debate contribution in Jamaican Patwa and was stopped by the Speaker, who pointed to standing orders requiring standard English in the House of Representatives and warned that repeated interruptions would not attract extra speaking time. Government members backed the ruling; Opposition members argued Patwa should be allowed on a culture portfolio item, contrasting it with a recent instance of a minister speaking Spanish to Cuban guests. When she continued, Burchell said she would set aside Patwa “because I have been reminded of the linguistic conventions of this honourable house,” then delivered the rest of her speech in English.