(PATERSON, NJ) – As the search continued Sunday for a relative accused of stabbing a 4-year-old girl multiple times in the child’s New Jersey home, the young victim’s father said she is fighting for her life and the attack has left him “speechless.”

The child remains in stable condition and is currently being treated at Saint Joseph’s University Medical Center. According to the family, he is being treated for stab wounds to the lung and liver, as well as a diaphragm injury.

“She couldn’t answer because she had tubes and everything else inside her, but she opened her eyes and when she heard my voice she tried to look me in the eyes. I was very happy that she responded,” the girl’s father, Faherem LaSane, told New York’s ABC station WABC outside the hospital on Saturday afternoon.

LaShane said his daughter’s name is Amber and described her as a cheerful girl with a big smile and an appetite to match.

The stabbing occurred shortly after 4 p.m. on Friday in Paterson, New Jersey, according to the Passaic County District Attorney’s Office. Officers were called to the home because of a domestic dispute and found the child stabbed multiple times, the district attorney’s office said.

Police could not immediately identify the suspect, but Paterson City Councilman Luis Velez told WABC that police are looking for the child’s aunt in connection with the incident.

The aunt was looking after Amber while the girl’s mother was at home caring for another child, relatives said.

Neighbor Keema James said she saw the mother coming out of the house with the child in her arms, both covered in blood.

“She had a large cut on her forehead and she had bandaged it,” James said of the victim in an interview with WABC.

LaShan said he was stunned when he learned of the stabbing and immediately rushed to the hospital to help his daughter.

“I was completely speechless and shocked because I didn’t want to believe it. I didn’t want to believe it at all,” LaShan said.

The motive for the stabbing is still being investigated.

The Passaic County District Attorney’s Office has asked anyone with information about the incident to contact their office.

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