Charge: St. Paul woman stabs boyfriend, sleeps all night next to his body

A 48-year-old woman with a history of drunken violence was charged Monday with fatally stabbing her 58-year-old boyfriend over the weekend during a confrontation in his apartment.

She then made a bed for both of them and slept next to his body on the kitchen floor, authorities reported.

Sherry Ann Henderson, of St. Paul, was arrested Saturday afternoon and is now charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree murder. Addison Hillard was stabbed in the chest in the apartment in the 200 block of Birmingham Street on Friday night, according to the Ramsey County medical examiner's office.

Henderson said she realized within 20 minutes of stabbing Hillard that he was dead, according to the criminal complaint. But she didn't call police, she explained, because "she wasn't ready to let him go," the complaint read.

According to the criminal complaint:

Henderson, a female friend of hers and Hillard were drinking Friday night in the efficiency apartment. Henderson passed out on a bed. She awoke to find her friend and Hillard talking.

"What the hell you say to him? … That's my man," Henderson said to the woman, according to the complaint. Neither Hillard nor the woman responded, knowing that Henderson "becomes violent when she drinks," the complaint read.

Shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, Henderson's cousin called police and told them that Hillard was dead.

Officers arrived and removed Henderson from the apartment. She told one officer, "I think I stabbed him," according to the complaint. Police found Hillard's body in the apartment, his face covered with blankets.

Hillard's daughter told police Henderson has attacked her father numerous times, cutting his arm and torso with a knife a few months ago.

Henderson told police that Hillard called her a name and came after her. From that point, she continued, she couldn't recall what happened. Both ended up in the kitchen. She said she noticed blood on her hands and Hillard upright and leaning against the entertainment center with a hole in his chest more than 5 inches deep.

"Baby, you all right?" she recalled saying to him. He didn't respond and slid to the floor.

Henderson's criminal history in Minnesota shows convictions for domestic assault, malicious punishment of a child, child neglect, disorderly conduct and terroristic threats. The criminal complaint noted that several of the violent confrontations dating back to 2000 have occurred when Henderson was drinking. Her victims have included Hillard, her daughter and others.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482