STUART — A 25-year-old man has been charged with murder following a fatal stabbing in a residential neighborhood in Martin County, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were first called to the 6000 block of Southeast Black Oak Lane in the Southwood community after residents reported a man knocking on doors and acting erratically.
A short time later, the suspect encountered a woman in the street and carried out what authorities described as a violent, unprovoked attack, stabbing her multiple times and critically injuring her.
The victim, who was walking her dog at the time, died a short time later, investigators said.
Deputies located the suspect shortly after the attack and took him into custody.
Detectives later identified the suspect as Kersten Francilus, 25, who now faces a murder charge. Investigators said the attack appeared to be random.
According to the sheriff’s office, Francilus lives in a nearby community and had walked into the Southwood development before the incident, knocking on doors and acting suspiciously prior to encountering the victim.
Sheriff John Budensiek said in a press conference that there had been multiple calls about Francilus in the moments prior to the incident, mostly in reference to a "suspicious black male" who was wandering the neighborhood. He has reportedly asked neighbors where the "new bank" was; such a bank does not exist.
Budensiek said the interactions with Francilus in those moments were largely calm and there was no confrontation. No one saw that called saw that Francilus was in possession of a knife.
Francilus has been booked into the Martin County Jail.