Charges: Man stabbed 70-year-old neighbor in face, chest with filet knife

A St. Paul man in his 60s was charged on Monday in connection with a Sunday night stabbing that killed a 70-year-old man.

Robert Lauerne Ramsey, 64, was charged in Ramsey County Court with two counts of second-degree murder for the stabbing death of 70-year-old Lester Haynes, of St. Paul.

According to a criminal complaint, St. Paul officers were called to Redeemer Arms at 313 Dale Street around 6:15 p.m. on Sunday. There, officers found Haynes lying on the ground outside his apartment with an apparent cut on the left side of his face.

The complaint stated that Haynes was unconscious and unresponsive when law enforcement found him. He was brought to the hospital, where he was declared dead a short time later.

Witnesses on the scene told law enforcement that a man who lived in the apartment had been fighting with Haynes, and officers followed blood droplets on the floor and elevator to Ramsey’s apartment, where he was arrested.

A witness who had been with Haynes at the time of the stabbing told officers that he was watching football with him when there was a knock at the door. The witness said Haynes answered the door to Ramsey, and they began fighting.

The witness continued, saying that the fight spilled into the hallway, and when he went to check, Haynes had been stabbed with a filet knife.

Surveillance video from the hallway confirmed the witness’s account. That footage also showed Ramsey stabbing Haynes in the face and upper torso before kicking him in the chest.

At the time of this publishing, Ramsey refused to give a DNA sample to law enforcement. A spokesperson for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office says prosecutors are asking Ramsey be held without bail until he provides a DNA sample.

Ramsey is set to make his first court appearance on Tuesday morning.