Charges were filed Thursday in the case of a woman who was stabbed to death in Minneapolis last month.

Honora Patterson, 30, of Minneapolis, was charged with second-degree murder and was being held in jail on a $1 million bail. Before the murder charges, he had been arrested for failing to register as a predatory offender.

According to a court document, Patterson killed Lolitta Malone, 43, killed because he claimed she stole money from him. Her clothing was soaked with gasoline when police discovered her body in the bedroom of her duplex on the 2300 block of Queen Avenue N. on Dec. 27. A red container for gasoline was found near her body.

A witness identified Patterson's vehicle and another witness saw him at Malone's duplex Dec. 26, the night she was killed. Patterson was described as a "daily guest" of Malone.

A third witness told investigators that they received calls and text messages from Patterson implicating himself to the crime, the court document said.

The witness also received information from him indicating where he left clothing he wore the night Malone died. A DNA test confirmed the clothes belonged to Patterson.

Malone, who was from Indiana, had lived in north Minneapolis for many years.

DAVID CHANEN