A 24-year-old St. Paul man was charged Wednesday with killing a woman whose body was discovered by her 7-year-old son over the weekend.
Sammy D. Henderson was charged in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder in the death of Sherell Montrese Craighead, 30.
According to the complaint: Craighead's son went to his grandmother's house about 7 a.m. Sunday. The two went to sleep, and when they woke later, the grandmother asked why he had come over.
"The seven-year-old boy said his mother … was sleeping naked on the floor and bleeding from her back."
The grandmother took the boy to his apartment on E. Minnehaha Avenue, where she found her daughter stiff with rigor mortis. Craighead's son told authorities that Henderson was over Saturday and that he argued with Craighead, according to charges. The boy said he woke up to his mother's screams and saw her near the dresser. She told him to call 911, the boy said, but he couldn't find a phone and went to bed.
Henderson contacted police Monday after hearing that authorities were looking for him. Henderson told them he and Craighead were casual sex partners, the charges said. He was repeatedly evasive with authorities and initially denied getting "physical" with her. Henderson also tried to shift blame on Craighead, calling her a "drama queen" and telling police she flung herself against walls and caused her own injuries, the complaint said.
Under questioning by Sgt. Jake Peterson, Henderson eventually told police he forced her to have sex Saturday even though she told him to stop, the complaint said.
"Sergeant Peterson asked, 'But you never grabbed her neck tightly, right?' Henderson replied, 'No — not super tight,' " according to the charges. Henderson later admitted that he grabbed her neck with his left hand during sex.
