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Jury finds civilly committed woman not guilty in St. Paul stabbing death

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A jury has found that a St. Paul woman who fatally stabbed her roommate’s boyfriend days after telling police she was God had acted in defense of her home.

After more than a day and a half of deliberations, the Ramsey County District Court jury determined Thursday that Maxim Kenneth Rhone, 26, was not guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in the 2016 homicide of Gerald “Jay” Montantes, 29.

Family members of Montantes stormed out of the courtroom immediately after the verdicts were read and could be heard yelling and swearing in a courthouse hallway before leaving the building.

By contrast, Rhone turned and smiled at her father, who blew her a kiss from his front-row seat in the gallery. Rhone then turned to hug her public defender, Connie Iversen.

Rhone, who is transgender and previously identified as a man, was arrested after stabbing Montantes while the two were inside Rhone’s apartment in the 400 block of Grand Avenue on Sept. 24, 2016.

Montantes collapsed on the grass outside the building and died shortly after.

The state argued at trial that Rhone was “annoyed, tired and impatient” with Montantes after he came into her apartment uninvited late that night, prompting Rhone to unnecessarily grab a knife and shove it six inches into Montantes’ side.

Montantes had returned to the residence to retrieve a phone left behind after he and his girlfriend were kicked out days earlier, according to assistant Ramsey County attorneys Ayodele Famodu and Clayton Robinson.

Iversen disputed the state’s narrative and said Rhone was defending herself and her home when she stabbed Montantes, who she said had broken in with the intent of “ransack(ing)” the place that night.

She added that Montantes had been aggressive toward Rhone in the past, adding to her fear the night of the stabbing.

She grabbed a knife only after Montantes refused to comply with Rhone’s repeated requests to leave her home, Iversen argued.

While the verdict means Rhone will be released from police custody, she will remain civilly committed for the foreseeable future at the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter as her mental health continues to be monitored and treated, according to her father, Patrick Rhone.

Rhone told police days before Montantes’ fatal stabbing that she was God and that a man inside her apartment was raping and stabbing babies. She was briefly admitted to Regions Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation.

Court records indicate she struggles with schizoaffective disorder and was deemed mentally ill and dangerous in May.

Her mental health caused the state to delay her criminal proceedings after she was initially found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Iversen said after the verdict that she was pleased that the jury understood Rhone’s right to defend her home that night.

“I’m very happy … Ms. Rhone is very happy,” Iversen said. “She will remain under civil commitment where she will continue to work to get well.”

Patrick Rhone, who had previously been estranged from his daughter, echoed those comments.

“I’m glad my daughter can go back to where she was receiving the help she desperately needs to be a functioning member of society,” he said.

He added that she is working hard to restore her mental health after years of struggling with violent outbursts and other troubling behaviors.

He also offered his condolences to Montantes’ family.

“It is incredibly unfortunate that Jay lost his life,” Patrick Rhone said of Montantes. “No one but (Rhone and Montantes) will really know what happened that night. … I have an incredible amount of compassion and empathy for his family and for their loss. It’s senseless.”

The county attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the verdict.

A civil trial to determine the future of Rhone’s civil commitment is expected to take place early next month.

Montantes was a father and a tattoo artist. Someone wrote on his Facebook wall in the months after his death: “Every day you are missed Jay. You will never be forgotten.”


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