Man charged with murder after fatal stabbing in St. Paul’s Union Park neighborhood

A St. Paul man is now facing a murder charge after a stabbing left a man dead last week in the city’s Union Park neighborhood.

It happened at around 10:30 a.m. Friday at a home along Iglehart Avenue near North Asbury Street, a little over a block from Snelling Avenue.

Officers arrived and found 37-year-old Randall B. Williams outside the home, suffering from an apparent stab wound to his chest. He was taken to a hospital but died in the emergency room a short time later.

St. Paul police noted that officers detained a man inside the home for questioning.

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Charging documents filed Monday state that 57-year-old Alvin Rozell Stafford, Sr., was the man officers detained. He’s now charged with second-degree murder and faces up to 40 years in prison.

According to court documents, Williams, Stafford and other roommates were inside the home that morning along with Williams’ girlfriend. Williams and his girlfriend started arguing over missing money and Stafford stepped in and told Williams to leave the woman alone. That led Williams to start going after Stafford and the argument became physical.

Another roommate who was home at the time heard the noise and tried to break up the fight but both men continued to wrestle with each other. That roommate and Williams’ girlfriend then saw that Williams was bleeding and the roommate called 911.

Eventually, Stafford pushed Williams outside the home and shut the door.

Williams’ girlfriend told investigators that she saw Stafford pull a knife out of his jeans during the fight but ran back to her room out of fear and never saw him use it. The other roommate and Stafford’s nephew, who was also in the home at the time, reported hearing the men mention a gun as they fought but neither said they ever saw a gun, a criminal complaint adds.

Stafford, who had blood on his hands when officers arrived, initially told police that Williams had scissors while they were fighting. While officers found scissors on a table, they also found a small silver knife and a brown folding knife that was wet under a drying rack in the kitchen.

Later, Stafford told police that he didn’t have anything sharp while he wrestled with Williams and said Williams didn’t have any weapons either. However, after he was told that Williams died, Stafford claimed he thought Williams had a gun, although he admitted he never saw a gun.

An autopsy confirmed that Williams died from a stab wound to his chest.

The complaint also notes that Stafford has past convictions for making violent threats and selling drugs, as well as multiple domestic abuse protection order violations.

Stafford’s first court appearance is scheduled for Tuesday morning.