Charges: Man broke into St. Paul apartment, fatally stabbed woman
St. Paul Police are investigating a stabbing at Larpenteur Villa Apartments Sunday afternoon. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 38-year-old man was charged Monday with breaking into a woman’s apartment in St. Paul over the weekend and fatally stabbing her.
Maurice Smith was charged Monday with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree burglary in the stabbing death of 48-year-old Tina McCombs.
The charges say around 2:30 p.m. Sunday, St. Paul police officers responded to a 911 call of a stabbing at an apartment on the 100 block of Larpenteur Avenue. Upon arrival, they located McCombs on the bedroom floor of the apartment, unresponsive with a puncture wound to her chest. Medics arrived and pronounced her dead at the scene.
Parts of the apartment door and the lock were found scattered in the entryway.
According to the charges, McCombs’ boyfriend told investigators he was dozing in the living room and McCombs was in the bedroom when a guy kicked the apartment door open. McCombs came out of the bedroom as the man walked into the apartment.
McCombs reportedly yelled, "What the f*** is wrong with you?" at the man, who then lifted his arm and made a stabbing motion towards her.
McCombs’ boyfriend said he heard her say, "Ouch," and then the man fled. She walked back to the bedroom and her boyfriend said he heard a thud as she fell to the floor.
McCombs’ boyfriend told investigators he had seen the suspect around and that he thought the man was homeless.
A few hours later, police located the suspect, identified as Smith, outside a house several miles from the scene. He was treated at Regions Hospital for exposure. After he was medically cleared to leave the hospital, he was taken to police headquarters and eventually arrested.
Investigators learned Smith and McCombs were friends on Facebook. McCombs boyfriend identified Smith as the one who broke into the apartment and killed his girlfriend.
Smith admitted he went to see McCombs that day "to kill her." He said he looked in several different apartments before he found her.
He admitted to killing McCombs. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined McCombs died of multiple stab wounds to her chest that led to her death.
Smith has six prior felony convictions.