“Mitchell is an angel, she talks like an angel.  Mitchell is acting like an angel,” her father, Emmanuel Nwabuoku, told CP24 on Tuesday morning.
Emmanuel said he, his wife and their three children, Olivia, Parise and Mitchell, were staying at his brother’s apartment in Mississauga on July 26 before the unthinkable happened.
“Normally, my daughter is with me, but because it was ice cream day they went with their sister down to the park,” she said.  “Just 15 minutes later we got the call that he couldn’t breathe anymore and we got out straight away.”
Around 7:40 p.m., emergency responders were called to the area of ​​Dundas Street and Cawthra Street for reports of a child struck by a GO train.
Emmanuel says his children were chasing a butterfly before his youngest daughter walked across a path and onto the train tracks where she was hit by an oncoming train.
“They said they followed a butterfly.  They were playing in the park and chased the butterfly at that point.  I couldn’t speak, I didn’t hear anything else.  Only to see my daughter lifeless on the floor,” Emmanuel said.
Just before 9pm, Peel Police confirmed Mitchell was pronounced dead at the scene.
Metrolinx, which operates the GO train service, said about 300 passengers were on the train when the child was struck.
A witness who owns a nearby garage told CP24 he was working at the time of the incident when he heard a train honking and a loud squeal of a railroad brake.
“When I came out of my garage, I see the train stopped.  This has never happened before,” said Muhammad Tayyab.
“Three children were screaming and crying very loudly.  I was shocked.  I ran there… I see the body, there was a child on the side… They were hurt very badly.”
Local residents spoke to CP24 after the incident and said the lack of barriers on the train tracks is a known issue and it’s not unusual to see people crossing the tracks.
Mitchell was born in 2017 in Dallas, Texas and her family moved to Canada in 2018.
Emmanuel says he was a happy child who brought joy to everyone’s lives.
“Mitchell is a lively person.  Mitchell is a happy man.  Mitchell has touched lives… Mitchell can’t sleep without hugging everyone.  Mitchell can’t do anything without giving daddy a kiss.  Because Mitchell is daddy’s princess.  Mitchell is everything to us,” he said.
Emmanuel is not only dealing with the loss of his child but also the loss of his mother who died two days before Mitchell’s death.
Emmanuel said this is why his family was staying with his siblings as they planned his mother’s funeral.
He added that he has no words to explain the pain of losing his child, but thanks everyone for their love and support.
“What can I say… I know what it means to lose a child.  For those who weep for us, God will comfort each of us.”
Mitchell’s funeral was held in Mississauga at Turner & Porter Funeral Home on Tuesday morning.
With files from CP24’s Joshua Freeman and CTV News Toronto’s Phil Cekura