Woman charged with murder in fatal stabbing

A Minneapolis woman was charged with second-degree murder of a woman she stabbed in the chest, the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday.

Shermeika Franklin, 39, was charged with second-degree murder with intent and second-degree murder while committing a felony in the stabbing of 42-year-old Mesheka Willis of Minneapolis. Franklin will make her first court appearance Thursday.

According to the criminal complaint, police were called to a parking lot near 810 Hennepin Ave. S. Saturday night where they found Willis lying on the asphalt with two people giving her first aid. She died at Hennepin Health just before 10:30 p.m.

One woman said she was with Willis across the street from the Hawthorne Ramp when several other people arrived, but she did not see how Willis died, she stated. However, investigators later received a call from another woman who said Franklin called her and said she stabbed Willis.

Police watched surveillance video and saw Franklin arguing with Willis, the two women circling each other and then Willis staggering away and falling to the ground, according to the complaint. The first witness looked at a photo lineup and picked out Franklin.

After her arrest, Franklin told police that Willis had been bothering her all day, the complaint states.

Franklin Criminal Complaint (PDF)