St. Cloud woman admitted capacity to kill before fatally stabbing boyfriend, prosecutors say

A St. Cloud woman admitted having the capacity to kill shortly before fatally stabbing her boyfriend, according to charges.

Katerina Ivanovna Markiv, 23, was charged Tuesday in Stearns County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the death of Quinton McKay Hughes, 25, of Sauk Rapids, Minn.

Markiv remains jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail ahead of a court appearance Monday. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to her attorney for a response to the allegations.

Hughes was stabbed in the chest about 4 a.m. Monday in Markiv’s apartment in the 1200 block of Washington Memorial Drive, police said. Emergency responders declared him dead at the scene.

According to the criminal complaint:

Hughes told 911 that the two of them had a “minor disagreement” before Markiv stabbed him. Markiv got on the phone and was heard apologizing to Hughes for stabbing him.

Officers arrived and saw Markiv applying pressure to Hughes’ wound. She said she didn’t realize Hughes was that close when she stabbed him with an 8-inch knife.

She said “something in my head got triggered” before she grabbed the knife and stabbed Hughes.

Hughes and Markiv, who began dating in October, worked at the same location.

A co-worker told police that Markiv was an emotional person who needed to step away when she would get upset.