TUALATIN, OR (KPTV) -
A small memorial of flowers marks the spot where police said a woman was stabbed to death by her boyfriend outside their Tualatin apartment complex.
The accused, Lujar Philippo, was arraigned on one count of murder Monday afternoon.
According to a probable cause document, detectives said Philippo said that he was "guilty," but then asked for a lawyer.
The court documents reveal a neighbor told investigators she awoke to the sound of a woman screaming for help early Saturday morning, then looked outside to see the woman, later identified as Kiorinta Edmond, on the ground with a man standing over her, stabbing her with a knife.
"I heard shrieking and yelling," another neighbor told Fox 12.
He declined to be identified, but said he called 911 then saw the suspect approach officers after they arrived.
"I saw the actual suspect coming from the other side with two knives. I yelled to officers, ‘there he is!'"
According to the probable cause documents, officers said Philippo began to charge police but then stopped and held one of the knives up to his own neck. Police said they shot him with a Taser and arrested him.
"He was on the ground, police were cuffing him," said neighbor Stephen Chase, who watched from his apartment patio. "He was wailing something incoherent."
Police have not revealed a motive, but said they had visited the victim, Kiorinta Edmond, earlier that morning after being called to the same complex to investigate a hit-and-run crash in the parking lot around midnight.
Detectives said they believe Philippo may have been involved, but they could not locate him when the went to the apartment he shares with Edmond.
Officers said, at that time, there didn't appear to be problems between Edmond and Philippo.
Court documents reveal, when officers returned to the apartment following the murder, evidence such as blood was found on the door handle and on a knife in the sink. Officers also said a chair in the living room appeared to have stab and slash marks on it.
Philippo is due back in court next week.
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