Charges: Minneapolis woman fatally stabs man after being denied sex

Tommy Wiita

Darnika Floyd[Hennepin County Jail]

A Minneapolis woman is facing a murder charge after she allegedly stabbed a man at his residence in November 2018.

Court documents show 33-year-old Darnika Denise Floyd has been charged with one count of second-degree murder. She faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.

According to the criminal complaint, on Nov. 27, 2018, at 12:11 p.m., officers responded to a residence in northeast Minneapolis on a report of a death. Upon arrival, officers found a deceased man seated in a living room chair with a stab wound to his chest. The victim's body was noted as cold and stiff and appeared to have been dead for several days. Family of the decedent confirmed to authorities that the man lived at the residence.

The victim's cause of death was later confirmed to be the stab wound to his chest and the manner of death was determined to be a homicide.

Officers later learned that the victim had spent that Saturday night (Nov. 24) with a family member and others. That family member left the residence around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m., leaving the victim with two women. One of the women was identified as Floyd. The family member said the victim had called them to confirm they got home safely, and none of the victim's family heard from him after that, according to the complaint. The victim was scheduled to work the next day on Nov. 25, but did not call in or show up.

Police later learned the victim had a multi-camera surveillance system installed in his residence and that the hard drive was located in a locked bathroom. However, when the victim's body was recovered, police noted the cameras had been removed, the bathroom door was kicked in and the hard drive was missing. Officers also found the victim's PlayStation gaming system had been shattered into pieces on the floor. Witness statements confirmed the gaming console had been functioning the night of Nov. 24. The victim's cellphone was also missing from the residence.

Blood was located on the victim's body, clothing, floors and walls of the residence. There also was a tissue found in the victim's bedroom with his blood on it. Additionally, the complaint states blood was found "remarkably high" on the wall in the victim's living room where one of the victim's surveillance cameras had been removed.

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Officers spoke with another witness, who was at the residence when it was just the victim, Floyd and the witness. She said she heard the victim and Floyd arguing over the victim's refusal to have sexual intercourse with Floyd. The complaint states the victim instead proposed that he would have sexual intercourse with Floyd and the other witness at the residence. However, the witness denied the request, which in return "angered" Floyd. The suspect then began "to act aggressively toward" the witness, and attempted to get physical. The witness had recorded the physical altercation on her cellphone and provided a copy to police, which revealed the incident happened at 6:08 a.m. on Nov. 25.

Following the altercation, Floyd fell asleep on the victim's bed, according to the witness. The witness said she left just as the sun was coming up and observed his PlayStation was functional and surveillance cameras were still installed.

Police used forensic testing to find all blood specimens collected at the scene matched the victim's DNA. Floyd's DNA was also found throughout the residence, from the tissue found in the bedroom to the broken PlayStation gaming console. Forensic scientists processed Floyd's cellphone using Google-account data which showed she was at the residence until 7:44 a.m. on Nov. 25. Cell tower information also confirmed she remained in the area at least until 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the same date.

According to the complaint, family members told authorities she and the victim had a "periodic but not exclusive" sexual relationship. They also noted that Floyd had episodes of "jealous rage" involving the victim and had previously threatened to shoot and kill the victim and family members.

After numerous interviews with police, Floyd had changed her story three times and never admitted to the murder. Forensic science was shown to her that her DNA was a match at the residence in multiple instances. During the final interview on Jan. 22, she stated the following:

She never saw or wiped up any blood in the residence
She never touched or moved the victim's PlayStation
Denied she ever became violent or physical in any way with the victim or witness
Denied she ever went into the victim's bedroom or clean up anything on Nov. 25

All of these instances were contradicted by DNA evidence, cellphone video and a witness' statement. After being confronted with the evidence, Floyd continued to deny all accusations. In response to the cellphone video, she claimed to authorities that "someone may be setting her up" or that "the victim committed suicide." She further denied having any knowledge of the victim's death.

Floyd is currently in custody.