Woman Killed in Stabbing at Saint Paul Apartment, Suspect Arrested
Saint Paul officers on scene of a stabbing Sunday, Jan. 9, 2021. PHOTO BY MN CRIME
Saint Paul officers on scene of a stabbing Sunday, Jan. 9, 2021. PHOTO BY MN CRIME
A woman died after being stabbed in the chest Sunday afternoon inside an apartment building on the 100 block of Larpenteur Ave. W.
According to initial dispatch audio, a call just prior of a male suspect breaking in an apartment door may be related. Officers first on scene shortly after 2:30 p.m. reported finding the woman with a large stab wound to the chest and that she was not responsive.
Medics on scene confirmed that the woman died of her injuries. Saint Paul police confirmed the homicide investigation, saying the victim was a woman in her 40s and that she died at the scene. Police have since identified the woman as Tina M. McCombs, age 48, of St. Paul.
The suspect who was initially reported to have broken into the apartment is believed to have fled on foot to the south, then east. He was described as a black male in his 30s with shoulder-length dreadlocks with red tips.
According to the initial dispatches, officers recovered a knife and found blood in the back of a building nearby.
Officers were breaking down their perimeter around 3:10 p.m. but were continuing to check the area for the suspect.
A suspect matching the description was reportedly found semi-responsive on the porch of a house around 4:30 p.m. in the Mt. Airy neighborhood, several miles south and hours about two hours after the initial stabbing at the apartment. Medics were requested to Linden & Mt. Airy for the suspect’s possible cold exposure. He was detained by officers, according to initial dispatches, and transported to the hospital.
Saint Paul police have identified the suspect arrested as Maurice Angelo McClinton Smith, 38, of Saint Paul. He's been booked on suspicion of murder in connection to the stabbing homicide.
The woman’s killing is the first homicide of the year in Saint Paul. In 2021, the city surpassed the record number of homicides in a year with 37.
Minneapolis just recorded its first homicide of the year as well, on Saturday night when a man was found with a gunshot wound inside a vehicle on the 4200 block of 11th Ave. S.