A 57-year-old St. Paul man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for stabbing his roommate in October has been sentenced to seven years of probation.

When 37-year-old Randall B. Williams and his girlfriend argued in a St. Paul home Oct. 6, Alvin Rozell Stafford Sr. intervened and the two men fought. Stafford stabbed Williams in the chest. Williams died in the emergency room at Regions Hospital.

Alvin Rozell Stafford Sr. (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

Stafford was charged with second-degree unintentional murder. In June, he pleaded guilty to an added charge of second-degree manslaughter as part of an agreement he reached with the prosecution that also included a stayed prison sentence to probation.

Stafford was sentenced Friday to a six-year, nine-month prison sentence, which was then stayed for seven years, during which time he will be on probation. He received credit for 260 days in jail, preventing any additional jail time from being part of the sentence, Ramsey County Attorney’s Office spokesman Dennis Gerhardstein said Monday.

Gerhardstein said a witness to the incident was unavailable for trial, so the state agreed to the downward departure from Minnesota sentencing guidelines.

Officers responded to the stabbing report at 10:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of Iglehart Avenue in St. Paul’s Snelling-Hamline neighborhood. As officers were tending to Williams at the scene, a witness told them Stafford was the suspect; he was arrested.

Williams and his girlfriend of about six weeks were arguing over some missing money, the criminal complaint said. The woman later reported to police that Stafford, one of Williams’ roommates, told Williams to leave her alone. Another roommate came out and tried to separate Stafford and Williams.

Stafford told investigators they wrestled after he’d told Williams to leave his girlfriend alone. He said he’d pushed Williams out of the home, which is where officers and paramedics found him, but he said he didn’t know how Williams was injured. He said he didn’t have anything sharp in his hands during the “wrestling match.”

Williams’ girlfriend later told police she saw Stafford pull a knife out of his pants’ pocket during the altercation and she ran out of the room in fear. She returned a short time later and saw a folding knife in the closed position on the floor.

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