MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A woman is dead after she was randomly attacked in the Southwood community in Martin County.
The Martin County Sheriff's Office responded to the 6000 block of SE Black Oak Lane on Thursday, following reports of an "unprovoked attack."
The victim, described as a woman in her 70s, was reportedly walking her dog when the suspect, 25-year-old Kersten Francilus, approached and began stabbing her with a steak knife, according to the sheriff's office.
Deputies arrived on the scene after neighbors reported a man knocking on doors and acting erratically. The sheriff says Francilus was asking people who answered the door where the new bank was, though there is no bank nearby.
Sheriff John Budensiek says the victim had a "significant amount of stab wounds to the upper torso," and that a neighbor tried to intervene during the attack, before deputies arrived at the scene and the suspect finally stopped stabbing the woman.
Francilus has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder.
WPTV's Michael Hoffman spoke with that neighbor, who wished to remain anonymous. He told Hoffman he spoke with Francilus before the stabbing and thought he seemed like he "wasn't all there" but was talking normally. He then heard screams nearby and found the victim covered in blood, recognizable only by her shoes that he'd seen her wearing around the neighborhood. He tried to pull Francilus away, but said he was too heavy and didn’t seem to notice the Good Samaritan. Francilus apparently snapped out of it only when deputies arrived and ordered him to the ground at gunpoint.
Another neighbor said it was a terrible situation, but at least the victim "is with her husband now" who she said has passed 10-15 years prior.
They say there is no known relation between the suspect and the victim, and Francilus has no known criminal history. Budensiek said that there was one prior call to service at Francilus' home, with his family reporting him "acting erratically" some time ago.
"So we don't know of any motive," Budensiek said. "At this point, we don't know of any nexus between the victim and the suspect. We simply know that we've had a horrendous crime that's taken place in this neighborhood."
The investigation is still active.
