A St. Paul jury has acquitted a 51-year-old woman in a fatal Valentine’s Day stabbing that had gripped the city’s North End neighborhood for more than a week of courtroom drama. Josephine Edwards, who had been charged with second-degree murder without intent in the death of her partner, Lucas Sanders, was found not guilty Tuesday after a nine-day trial.
Jury Returns Not Guilty Verdict
Jurors began deliberating following nine days of testimony and returned their not-guilty decision on Tuesday, according to CBS Minnesota. Edwards had been accused of fatally stabbing Sanders and faced a second-degree murder charge without intent tied to the 2024 holiday killing.
How The Case Began
The case traces back to the night of Feb. 14, 2024. As reported by the Star Tribune, police were called to an apartment on the 1300 block of Western Avenue North in St. Paul’s North End. Officers found 48-year-old Lucas Sanders near the doorway of the unit. He was taken to Regions Hospital, where he later died from two stab wounds to the back.
Evidence At The Scene
Charging documents and police reports detailed what officers found inside the apartment. Investigators recovered a kitchen knife in Edwards' sink with a "red substance" on its tip, as well as blood near the apartment door, according to CBS Minnesota. A smashed piece of cake with pink frosting was also spotted on the living room floor, a detail that jurors heard during the trial and that underscored the grim turn of what began as a holiday celebration.
Court Timeline
Public court records show that the case, filed as 62-CR-24-989 in Ramsey County District Court, was set for a jury trial in June. The court calendar lists a jury-trial start date of June 8, 2026. That scheduled start lines up with the multi-day hearing schedule that led to jury deliberations and this week’s verdict, according to court documents.
Background And Prior Reports
Before the homicide charge, investigators had previously documented multiple police reports alleging that Edwards assaulted Sanders, though none of those incidents resulted in a conviction, the Star Tribune reported. Those earlier allegations appeared in charging documents but did not themselves produce a criminal conviction.
The jury’s verdict brings the criminal trial to a close, but the Valentine’s Day killing remains a painful chapter for Sanders' family and for neighbors in St. Paul’s North End. For now, local reporting and public court records will be the main guideposts for whatever, if anything, comes next in the case.
