Happy and excited to celebrate her 19th birthday on April 17, beauty student Amanda Lightfoot’s life was cut short after she was stabbed to death in what is suspected to have been an opportunistic crime.

Lightfoot was killed on April 14 just after 13:00 in Windermere Drive, Farrarmere, Benoni.

According to initial information received from the Benoni SAPS, the Atlasville resident was waiting in a parked vehicle outside her boyfriend’s workplace, when an unknown person approached her.

Sharmain Lightfoot, Amanda’s mother, says they do not have much information about what happened, but that it seems that her daughter tried to flee.

Captain Nomsa Sekele, spokesperson for the Benoni SAPS, says a supervisor alerted her boyfriend that something was happening outside where he discovered Lightfoot.

“The boyfriend and his uncle immediately rushed her to a local hospital, but she was declared dead on arrival.”

The murder weapon, a knife, was recovered on the scene and investigations into the matter are underway.

Speaking to Benoni City Times, Lightfoot says that she is battling to come to terms with the death of her daughter.

“She was so excited about her upcoming birthday,” the distraught mother says.

“It is difficult to talk about what happened and the immense loss that her father and I are feeling. We are devastated.”

Bereaved friends and family have paid tribute to the young and inspirational woman by laying flowers and leaving messages of sympathy at the family home.

No funeral arrangements have yet been made as the autopsy is yet to be concluded.

Anyone with information about this incident may contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the MySAPS app. Information can be given anonymously.