Minnesota — A Minnesota man became enraged when he discovered his girlfriend was romantically involved with another man, and stabbed her to death, police say.
Joseph Davis, 34, is accused of second-degree murder in the death of Christine Morris, 33, at their St. Paul home, according to police.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit, St. Paul police officers conducted a welfare check at a home in the 300 block of Edmund Avenue early Friday after Davis called a family member and admitted to killing Morris, saying he was “sorry.”
Cops entered the house and heard a dog bark and a child cough. They discovered the child — Davis and Morris’ 2-year-old daughter — sitting on a living room couch.
Morris was discovered dead in an upstairs bedroom, covered in a blanket. According to the affidavit, she had several stab wounds in her head, neck, chest, and back, as well as sharp force injuries to her lung, kidney, and spleen.
Morris’ friends who were interviewed at the scene reported that she told them that if she or her daughter died, Davis would be held responsible.
According to the affidavit, Davis has been arrested for domestic violence at least three times, with Morris as the victim. The suspect’s ex-girlfriend reportedly had a restraining order against Davis because she feared he would harm her.
Officers also spoke with a friend who was with Morris the night before the slaying and reported that Morris claimed Davis accused her of cheating on him.
Morris arrived home around 11 p.m. and texted her friend to let her know she had arrived safely, according to police.
After finding the victim’s phone in a nearby park, police tracked down Davis and found him in an apartment in Minneapolis. The SWAT team coaxed Davis outside.
The apartment’s tenant stated that she met Davis about a month ago on a dating app and they had been talking.
She claimed Davis contacted her on Friday morning, saying he was fleeing the cops and asked if he could stay at her house. The affidavit stated that he refused to tell her why he was in trouble.
After giving Davis his Miranda warning, detectives informed him that they had found Morris and that she was “pretty messed up.”
When asked how it happened, Davis claimed Morris “had been f—ing him over for 5 years by cheating on him, manipulating him, and lying to him,” according to detectives. He also claimed to have set up a recording device in the house that caught Morris having sex with someone on Saturday. Davis claimed it was a married man.
The defendant claimed that an argument turned physical when he confronted her about lying.
“Davis admitted, ‘I should never have done that to her.'” That s—was brutal. “I—I definitely feel bad,” the cops wrote.
He reportedly stated that the stabbing began on the bed and then the victim rolled off. Davis allegedly watched Morris “take her last breaths” before wrapping her body in a blanket.
“She suffered, bro, she definitely suffered,” Davis allegedly told detectives, adding that the stabbing was not intentional.
After he “did the s—,” he allegedly lay down with the baby for about a half hour until she fell asleep, after which he left the house. He drove to the park and threw Morris’ cellphone out the window, according to the affidavit.
Cops arrested Davis and took him to Ramsey County Jail, where he is being held on a $2.5 million bond. His next court date is set for June 17.
