Prosecutors decline charges in fatal Friday stabbing, saying they can’t prove it wasn’t self-defense

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office has declined to charge the suspect in a fatal Friday stabbing in St. Paul, a spokesperson confirmed.

He added that the Attorney’s Office “cannot prove that [redacted] was not acting in self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt based on the evidence as presented by law enforcement.”

As previously reported, 35-year-old Derameo Q. Johnson was killed in the stabbing.

St. Paul officers responded to a report of a stabbing on the 200 block of East 7th Street around 5:23 p.m. on Friday.

The suspect and Johnson got into a fight inside the store directly before the stabbing. The suspect stayed at the scene and was initially arrested for manslaughter.