ST. PAUL (WCCO) — A St. Paul man has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of a 32-year-old woman.
Brent Lanier Lynch, 26, is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Tuesday for allegedly beating and killing Carolyn Marie Leete.
Police were dispatched to a home on the 850 block of Minnehaha Avenue in St. Paul on a call of someone who needed CPR. Officers arrived on scene and found a woman, face up and partially clothed who was unresponsive and did not have a pulse. Police identified the woman as Leete and noted that her head was covered in blood that appeared to be coming from her nose, mouth and eyes. They pronounced her dead at the scene.
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s investigation indicated Leete suffered several contusions to the back of her head and chin, as well as several lacerations to her lips and fractured nasal bones. They ruled her death from traumatic head injury due to physical assault.
A neighbor told police she went to check on Leete and was told by Lynch that he threw her on the bed but missed and she hit her head on the floor.
Brenda Lynch, Brent’s mother, said she received a call from her son around 3 a.m. She said he was upset because Leete allegedly let someone steal their vehicle. Brenda Lynch told officers she could tell her son had been drinking and said he gets crazy and terrifies her when he’s drunk. She said he and Leete had been dating for two or three years.
Officers searched the area and found Lynch walking towards a cab. They stopped the cab and placed Lynch under arrest. While waiting to enter the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center, Lynch said, “it wasn’t supposed to go down like this. This wasn’t supposed to happen. It was the alcohol,” according to the criminal complaint.
Lynch has four prior felony convictions, including one for terroristic threats against his then pregnant girlfriend and terroristic threats against the same woman, shortly after she gave birth. He was also convicted of third-degree assault and criminal damage to property against a different victim.
