Cheryll Harvey, American teacher, stabbed to death in Jordan

A 17-year-old boy faces life in jail after stabbing and killing American teacher Cheryll Harvey near Amman, Jordan this week.

Police made the announcement today, saying the 55-year-old Harvey caught the boy rummaging through her purse in her apartment.

She shouted at him, and he retaliated by stabbing her, The Associated Press reported.

Harvey had taught English in Jordan for the past 24 years.

She befriended the boy, who accompanied his father when he made repairs in the woman’s apartment in the town of Barha, the AP said.

More from GlobalPost: Internet blackout protests censorship in Jordan

“He was scared the neighbors would hear her screaming. So, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed her 10 times, including three fatal wounds to her neck,” police representative Abdul Wali Shakhanbeh told the AP.

While murderers often face the death penalty in Jordan, teens often receive life in prison.

Harvey, from Sudan, Texas, taught with the Jordan Baptist Society.

The Baptist Press said Harvey is single, but didn’t say if she had children.

“Cheryll was greatly loved by both our personnel in the Middle East and by her many students,” International Mission Board president Tom Elliff said, according to BPNews.net.

“Cheryll has left for us a great example that we should follow. She … will always be remembered for her quiet and unassuming spirit.”

More from GlobalPost: In Jordan, school violence begins at home