St. Paul man sentenced to over 11 years in prison for 2020 homicide

A 32-year-old St. Paul man has been sentenced in connection to an assault and homicide that happened last year.

According to court records, Zenas Farkarlun has been sentenced to 11.5 years in prison (138 months) on a first-degree felony manslaughter charge. He had a first-degree aggravated robbery charge and second-degree assault charge dismissed in the case. Farkarlun has 390 days of time served and will serve out the remainder of his sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud.

Farkarlun also owes a total of $4,196.84 in court fees and restitution.

Cornella Roybal, from St. Paul, died from injuries suffered in the incident. The Ramsey County Examiner’s Office said the cause of death was caused by traumatic head injuries due to a physical assault.

According to the complaint, authorities were called to a home on the 100 block of Arlington Avenue East on Jan. 11, 2020, on the report of an assault. When officers arrived, they learned that a male victim had been struck in the face with the side of a machete blade. A female victim, Roybal, had been punched twice in the head but went to bed before officers arrived.

Man charged in connection to St. Paul assault, homicide

Roybal’s live-in boyfriend told police a group of people had been watching the Vikings game when the male victim started making fun of Farkarlun’s face tattoos.

"He came out of the kitchen with a machete," said Warren Charwood, Roybal’s fiancé. "We were being held hostage, holding a machete, and was telling us to give him everybody’s cell phone, money, debit card […] He said he was going to kill my friend and if he did, he’d leave with no witnesses."

The complaint says Farkarlun grabbed a machete from a closet and hit the man with the dull side of the weapon. When Roybal stepped between the two, Farkarlun hit her twice, according to the woman’s live-in boyfriend.

Farkarlun took off and was arrested later by the Minneapolis SWAT Team.

The following day, police were called just after 6:30 a.m. to the same residence on the report of a woman who was not breathing.

The woman’s boyfriend told police he heard Roybal snoring around midnight. He said when he woke up, he found her unresponsive.

Roybal went to sleep that night with head injuries, and Charwood said he found her unresponsive the next morning.