Background: The home in Minneapolis, Minn., where Javontae Simms allegedly stabbed his brother on April 30 (Google Maps). Inset: Javontae Simms (Hennepin County Sheriff's Office).
A Minnesota man allegedly stabbed his brother to death over his cleanliness in the kitchen.
Javontae Simms, 23, was charged with murder after police said he fatally stabbed his brother, whose name and age were not made public, on Friday. According to a probable cause statement reviewed by Law&Crime, Simms and his brother had an argument at their home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that culminated in the brother receiving a knife wound to his chest. The brother's girlfriend told police that Simms was upset that his brother was not cleaning up the kitchen to his satisfaction.
According to the probable cause statement, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department responded to a call at the home just after 3 a.m. When they arrived, they found Simms' brother unconscious on the floor while his girlfriend held a cloth to a wound on the left side of his chest. Officers performed lifesaving measures on Simms' brother until paramedics arrived. He was pronounced dead at 3:32 a.m.
Police said Simms was found using a wooden panel to hide himself under the staircase in the home's basement. He was taken into custody.
When police spoke to the brother's girlfriend, she told them that she and Simms' brother had made food and were eating in the kitchen when Simms came into the room. Simms was reportedly "upset" that his brother had not cleaned up the kitchen. Another woman in the house at the time said Simms told his brother, "[I]f you don't start cleaning up after yourself, it's going to be an issue between you and me."
According to the probable cause statement, Simms left the kitchen and came back with a knife. He allegedly shoved his brother and called him a "p—." The brothers had a physical altercation, and both of the women told police that Simms was left standing in the kitchen with a bloody knife. His brother was heard saying, "[H]e just stabbed me."
The woman told police that Simms ran away as the brother's girlfriend applied pressure to his wound.
When police questioned Simms, he allegedly said he could not remember what happened and claimed that he "blacked out." He reportedly admitted to arguing with his brother about cleaning up the kitchen and retrieving a knife. According to police, Simms said he meant to "fake" stab his brother, but then his brother purportedly "charged him and ran into his knife."
Simms was charged with second-degree murder and is in custody at the Hennepin County Jail on a $1 million bond. He was scheduled to appear in court on Monday.