Teenager fatally stabbed in St. Paul, brother in custody

A 17-year-old was fatally stabbed overnight in St. Paul during a domestic dispute and his older brother is now in custody, police said.

Officers responded to an apartment complex in the Highwood Hills neighborhood on the 2200 block of Lower Afton Road around 3:15 a.m. on a report of two brothers fighting, one of whom had been cut with a knife.

Dispatchers told police that the 17-year-old suffered lacerations to his arm and beneath his eye, according to emergency transmissions.

Upon arrival, officers found the teen unresponsive with multiple stab wounds. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.

The victim's 24-year-old brother was arrested in connection with the slaying and remains jailed in Ramsey County. The Star Tribune generally doesn't name suspects before they are formally charged.

Investigators are still trying to piece together what led to such a violent encounter between the brothers.

Court records show the suspect has a previous felony conviction for a domestic assault. He was sentenced to three years' probation in that case, after admitting to punching his girlfriend multiple times during an argument in 2018.

He remained on probation in Hennepin County at the time of the latest attack.

The death marks St. Paul's 20th homicide of the year. It comes amid a surge in gun violence throughout the Twin Cities, which escalated significantly after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

St. Paul is on track to surpass its highest number of murders in 25 years, while Minneapolis has already surpassed last year's homicide total with 49 deaths.