AULANDER, N.C. (WITN) – The daughter of an 80-year-old woman who was killed in Monday night’s double stabbing in Aulander is speaking out for the first time.

Cathy Lapid spoke to WITN’s Justin Lundy this morning from her home in Virginia.

Lan Rawls was found stabbed to death in her Commerce Street home shortly before midnight. Her caregiver, 62-year-old Rochelle Harrell, was also stabbed in the attack. She remains at ECU Health Medical Center in Greenville.

Lapid said she is still processing her mother’s death and is thankful for the outpouring of love and support from the community.

Rawls came to the United States in 1975 after the war ended in her native Vietnam.

The daughter said everyone in Aulander knew her mother who worked in her flower garden in front of her house.

Wednesday night the community held a prayer vigil for both victims, and Lapid appreciates what they have done.

“That’s what I would want to say to the community, is to not let this define Aulander,” Lapid told WITN. “Instead, let this be what brings us all together. Still continue to have hope, to make changes so it can be safe again. So we can walk down the street without being worried we’ll be attacked. I know we’ll all get through this.”

The Bertie County Sheriff’s Office and the SBI continue to search for the person who killed Rawls and critically injured Harrell. Anyone with information on the stabbing is urged to immediately contact authorities.