St. Paul man charged in death of Alexandra Pennig

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Police say a 44-year-old man faces a murder charge in connection to the death of a woman early Friday in St. Paul.

Officers were dispatched to the 200 block of Fifth Street East on a report of a suicide. When they arrived at the scene at 2:50 a.m., they found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police identified the victim Monday as 32-year-old Alexandra Pennig, from St. Paul.  

A man who was at the apartment, Matthew Phillip Ecker, was arrested at the scene. He was charged Monday by the Ramsey County Attorney's Office with one count of second-degree murder.

If you or someone you know needs help, call 988. There you'll reach a trained crisis counselor that can help. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, also has resources online.

For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.