A 25-year-old man was charged Monday in the stabbing death last week of one of his short-term roommates at an apartment building on Grand Avenue in St. Paul.

Maxim K. Rhône, of St. Paul, was charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree murder. Rhône remains jailed in lieu of $1 million bail.

Police were called to the three-story apartment building in the Ramsey Hill neighborhood shortly before 2 a.m. Friday and found Gerald J. Montantes, 28, of St. Paul, had been stabbed in the side and on the arm.

Montantes stumbled out the back entrance, yelling for help, and collapsed on the grass outside the building, the criminal complaint read.

The knife went 16 inches into his side and struck a main artery, resulting in him bleeding to death, the charging document continued.

According to the complaint:

Montantes was at the apartment building to collect the possessions of a woman he had dated and who was the mother of his child. Montantes and the woman had been staying with Rhône and had to get out by the end of the month.

While inside the apartment, Montantes was on the phone with the woman, and she could hear the two men arguing.

She said she heard Rhône say he had a knife, followed by screams. When police arrived at the apartment, a calm Rhône told officers "I stabbed him." The large knife used in the killing was retrieved from atop the microwave in the kitchen.

The woman told authorities that Rhône "thinks he is God and ... he was hearing voices," the complaint read. Rhône had earlier threatened to stab Montantes.

Police at the scene transported Rhône to Regions Hospital for a mental health evaluation. He told police the stabbing was in self-defense because Montantes would not leave the apartment.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482