Suspect Arrested After Woman Found Dead, Child Alone in Frogtown Home

May 3

*300 block of Edmund Ave. in Saint Paul on Friday, May 2.* ***Via SPPD***

Police have arrested a suspect after a woman was killed and a 2-year-old girl found alone inside a Saint Paul home early Friday morning.

Officers responded just after 5:15 a.m. for a welfare check on the 300 block of Edmund Avenue in the Frogtown neighborhood.

After announcing their presence and getting no response, officers entered the home and found a woman unresponsive inside. Paramedics were called to the scene and pronounced her dead a short time later.

Police said the woman’s body showed signs of trauma and her death is being investigated as a homicide.

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The young girl was removed from the home and transported by medics for evaluation. Per initial police radio dispatches, she did not appear harmed but had been unattended for an unknown amount of time. Police later said they believe she is the homicide victim’s child.

Officers remained on scene into the late morning hours as members of the homicide unit processed evidence and canvassed the neighborhood. It marked the third homicide of the year in Saint Paul. KARE-TV reports at this time last year, there had been eight homicides in the city.

According to the City of Minneapolis crime dashboard, there have been 14 confirmed homicides so far this year.

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By around 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 3, Saint Paul Police announced an arrest in the case. Joseph Davis, 34, of Saint Paul, was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on suspicion of 2nd-degree murder. Formal charges for the suspect are expected in the coming days and details on the circumstances of his arrest are not yet available.

Ramsey County court records show Davis has previous convictions for domestic assault, disorderly conduct, DWI, fleeing police and felony violation of a no-contact order.

UPDATE | Monday, May 5

Prosecutors have filed a 2nd-degree murder charge against Davis, providing more details in the criminal complaint. The victim was identified by authorities on Monday as 33-year-old Christine Morris, with court documents revealing she was stabbed to death.

Officers had been called to the home on a welfare check after Davis reportedly called a family member and confessed to killing Morris, the mother of his child, and said he had left their 2-year-old alone inside.

Responding officers forced entry after receiving no answer at the door. They located the toddler unharmed on a couch in the living room and found Morris deceased upstairs, covered with a blanket and bearing visible stab wounds. She was pronounced dead at 7 a.m.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined that Morris died from blood loss due to multiple sharp-force injuries including numerous cuts and stab wounds to her head, neck, chest, back and limbs, with internal damage to her lung, spleen, kidney, colon and diaphragm. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Investigators discovered Morris’ phone had been discarded near Carty Park, 705 Iglehart Ave., where it was later recovered. A friend told police that Morris had previously expressed fear for her safety and said in a Sept. 2024 text message that if anything happened to her or her daughter, Davis would be responsible, the documents say.

Davis, who has a documented history of domestic abuse against Morris, was convicted in three separate domestic assault cases involving her between 2023 and 2024—two of which occurred at the same Edmund Avenue residence.

Following the killing, Davis fled to an apartment in Minneapolis. He was later arrested by SWAT officers after initially refusing to exit. The woman who lived at the apartment told police she had met Davis on a dating app and allowed him to come over after he said he was “in trouble,” the documents said.

In a post-arrest interview, Davis told investigators he attacked Morris following an argument over suspected infidelity. He admitted the stabbing was not premeditated, describing it as “brutal,” and said he watched her die before covering her body with a blanket. He also admitted tossing her phone out of a window.

Davis is being held on $2.5 million bail. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

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