Family Shattered After 5-Year-Old Stabbed 10 Times – Killer Declared Mentally Unfit And Avoids Jail Time

The family of five-year-old Xavier Mitchell were left reeling in the Parow Regional Court after learning for the first time that the child was stabbed 10 times — and that the accused, Mervyn White, will not stand trial but will instead be committed to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital as a state patient.

Shocking testimony emerged on Thursday as investigating officer Sergeant Lorenzo Arendse read statements from witnesses who were inside the Bishop Lavis home on the morning of Xavier’s brutal death on 7 August 2024.

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Xavier’s parents had left him in the care of their neighbour — who is also the child’s nanny and White’s sister — when tragedy struck.

Witnesses Describe Chaos as Accused Fled with Knife

White’s sister testified that she had fetched the children at around 7.10am. Later that morning, while doing laundry, she spotted White inside the house holding a knife.

She followed him outside, but he allegedly punched her in the head before bolting from the property.

During the chase, White threw the knife into a nearby churchyard.

A woman on the church premises retrieved it and handed it back to the sister — who then returned to the home and found Xavier lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor.

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The court heard: “The child, Xavier Mitchell, was on his right side on the floor in the kitchen, bleeding from his mouth and the left side of his face.”

Xavier was rushed to hospital, where doctors told his devastated family that he had been stabbed in the back. A post-mortem later confirmed 10 stab wounds.

Despite no eyewitnesses to the actual stabbing and the knife showing no visible blood at the time it was found, the court ruled that on a balance of probabilities, White committed the fatal attack.

White’s nephew also described waking up to commotion inside the home:

“When I got up, I saw my mother chasing my uncle… My girlfriend came out shouting that Xavier was bleeding on the ground.”

Accused Found Mentally Unfit — Family Says ‘Justice Not Served’

The court declared White mentally unfit for trial, ordering him to be committed to Valkenberg as a state patient, meaning he will not serve jail time.

Xavier’s mother, Sylvia, said she was shocked (“geskok”) to learn in court that her son had been stabbed 10 times, information she had never been told until now.

She said:

“I feel sad that justice was not really served because he [White] will be going to Valkenberg… I lost my child.”

Her husband, however, found some relief in the ruling:

“At least he is not out because he is a danger to society.”

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