Suspect in custody after woman was stabbed to death at East Erie residence early Thursday

A 40-year-old woman is dead and a male suspect is in custody following an alleged stabbing in an east Erie neighborhood early Thursday morning.

The woman, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at 1:19 a.m. Thursday at UPMC Hamot, according to the Erie County Coroner's Office. An autopsy is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday.

According to Erie County's 911 number, the woman was taken to the hospital from the 700 block of East Ninth Street, where police and emergency personnel were first dispatched at 12:22 a.m. Thursday.

Erie Police patrol officers were called to the residence for a reported stabbing and arrested the suspect. Officers found the female victim unconscious inside the home, Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said Thursday morning.

No one else was in the apartment at the time, he said.

Detectives with the Erie Police Department were called to investigate the stabbing. Police are keeping the East Ninth Street home as a crime scene and will execute a search warrant for it as part of the ongoing investigation, Lorah said.

Murders in Erie County this year

If the woman's death is ruled a homicide after the autopsy, it would be the fourth homicide in Erie County and the second in Erie this year.

The other homicides occurred:

• On Jan. 19, Corry police charged 59-year-old Kellie A. Hellmann with stabbing her husband, 59-year-old Paul Hellmann II, to death in their home on Essex Street in Corry. Hellmann is awaiting her preliminary hearing on manslaughter and other charges.

• On May 7, Erie police charged 34-year-old Melvin D. Burnett Jr. with shooting 35-year-old Deonte Tate and wounding a 31-year-old woman in the 700 block of West Fourth Street. Burnett was charged with first-degree murder and other charges following his preliminary hearing in early June and is awaiting trial.

• On August 11, Pennsylvania State Police charged 72-year-old Gary S. Hulihan with shooting his son, 48-year-old Patrick A. Hulihan, at a home on Carter Hill Road in Wayne Township. Hulihan is awaiting his preliminary hearing on manslaughter and other charges.

This is a developing story. Return to GoErie.com for updates.

Contact Tim Hahn at [email protected]. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared in the Erie Times-News: Fatal stabbing: Suspect in custody after woman dies in Erie