Emma and Lee Lovell, originally from Ipswich, England moved to Australia 11 years ago.

At 11:30pm Monday evening their family awoke to find intruders attempting to rob their home.

During a confrontation Emma was stabbed in the chest resulting in her death at the scene.

Neighbour Jay Balhatchet said he watched as paramedics tried to save her life for 15 to 20 minutes on the front lawn.

Her husband was stabbed in the back, but fortunately the injury was not a life threatening.

Two 17-year-old boys of Aboriginal heritage, one from Holland Park and one from Zillmere, have been charged with one count each of murder and attempted murder.

Two others, a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy, are assisting police with their investigation.

Lee paid tribute to his wife outside the family home on Tuesday saying she “died trying to protect me and our family”.

One of the accused last year stabbed lawyer Aaron Anderson in his home in the Brisbane suburb of St Lucia last year when he was 15. Due to the charges being downgraded from attempted murder to unlawful wounding he was released allowing him to go on to rob the Lovells. One of the boys was actually arrested on Christmas Eve, for a seperate incident then released on Boxing Day just hours before Ms Lovell was killed.

It later transpired that two of the alleged killers lived in a ‘Half-way house’ that had been located just doors away from the Lovell home, resulting in the local community having a meeting raising safety concerns. ‘This is a prime example of what can happen [when there is no community consultation],’ one man said.