Man Arrested For Fatally Assaulting Neighbor In St. Paul Apartment Building

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- Authorities say a suspect has been arrested in connection to the death of a man who was fatally assaulted last month in a St. Paul apartment building.

The St. Paul Police Department said Thursday that a 39-year-old man was arrested for murder and booked into the Ramsey County Jail. WCCO does not typically name suspects unless they've been formally charged.

The man is suspected of killing 51-year-old Carlos Venceslado Rocha, who was found dead on Dec. 27 in an apartment building on Snelling Avenue in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood.

Investigators say that Rocha reported being assaulted by a neighbor in his apartment building a week earlier. While medics initially cleared Rocha out after assault, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner said that he later died due to injuries suffered in the attack.

Rocha's death marked the 38th homicide in St. Paul in 2021, a year which set the all-time record for homicides in the capital city.