Charges: Kelvin Perry killed Shaqita Thomas in St. Paul before stepping in front of light rail train
ST. Paul, Minn. — The Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged a man on Tuesday with second-degree murder in connection to a woman found dead in her apartment last week following a welfare check.
Kelvin Perry, 54, was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly killing Shaqita Thomas, 39.
Thomas' husband requested a welfare check on her apartment when he did not hear from Thomas after a few days. Upon arrival, St. Paul Fire Department medics found Thomas lying face down. She was pronounced dead.
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The attorney's office said it happened in Thomas' apartment last Wednesday at the Press House Apartments on the 300 block of Cedar Street.
The cause of death is asphyxia, according to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner.
They requested St. Paul police, who found cuts on Thomas' forearms, back and shoulders. She also suffered head trauma.
According to police, officers found blood in different places in the apartment, as well as a broken wine bottle and shards of glass near Thomas' body.
Police spoke with Thomas' husband who said they separated but were still married.
The husband said Thomas and he spent the night together on Nov. 14. He dropped her off at her apartment the following morning.
Upon arrival, Thomas called Perry, her boyfriend, because Perry allegedly had the key fob she needed to get into her apartment.
Before Perry arrived with the fob, Thomas wanted her husband to leave the apartment so Perry would not see the two together. She allegedly did this to prevent a potential altercation, according to her husband. Thomas' husband and Perry did not know each other.
Thomas' husband feared for Thomas' well-being because he had heard Perry yell at her multiple times.
Surveillance video allegedly shows that Perry met Thomas at the apartment at 10:10 a.m. last Wednesday. He left her apartment at 12:49 p.m.
Thomas' door locked at 12:48 p.m., according to charging documents. It was not opened until a few days later by medics.
Investigators spoke with one of Thomas' friends who had FaceTimed with her at 11:20 a.m. last Wednesday. The woman said Thomas was crying, and a man was heard repeatedly yelling at her in the background.
When Thomas' friend asked what was wrong, she said that Perry was mad at her for spending the night at the emergency room with her husband. She said she was at the emergency room because of her son's asthma.
Thomas said Perry was accusing her of sleeping with her husband. Their conversation ended at 11:36 a.m., and the friend on the phone did not notice anything wrong with Thomas' face.
After not hearing from Thomas for a few days, Thomas' husband requested a wellness check.
An apartment tenant told Thomas' husband that his wife's boyfriend was Perry; Thomas' husband relayed that to the police.
The tenant who identified Perry told police that Perry was a resident at one of her sober homes and knew one of Perry's former girlfriends. The woman said Perry was "dangerous, violent, and no good" for Thomas, according to charging documents.
Investigators then contacted Perry's former girlfriend. She said Perry was a "very violent and jealous person" and was drinking and using drugs again. According to the woman, Perry gets violent when he uses.
Changing documents state she then said she talked to Perry's brother who said Perry had called others and said he "choked Thomas out."
An investigator then spoke to a woman who had known Perry since they were kids.
Perry called her around 11:13 a.m. last Friday and was crying and panicking. Perry allegedly said, "Something is going on. My girlfriend is gone, she is dead."
Police say minutes after confessing, Perry walked in front of a Green Line train in St. Paul. He remains hospitalized.
Perry is from Chicago and has significant arrest history.
This was St. Paul's 30th homicide this year.
