Stabbing Homicide Defendant Pleads Guilty to First-Degree Murder

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Tony Stewart, 65, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and accepted a life sentence, suspending all but 35 years, and five years of supervised probation before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer on Feb. 25.

On June 16, 2024, police found April Patterson, 46, naked in a pool of blood with fatal stab wounds and physical trauma, inside a bathroom at a residence in the 1800 block of Spence Street. A witness informed responding officers that he saw Stewart leaving the apartment covered in blood and using a walker, stating that he “killed that b*tch.”

Investigators later recovered a broken knife from Stewart’s bathroom, near where Patterson’s body was found. Following Stewart’s arrest, he admitted to stabbing Anderson with the recovered knife.

Patterson’s father, who was visibly shaking during the hearing, muttered “I’m going to kill him,” and was promptly escorted out by court security.

“Whatever my sister did to you, it didn’t mean you had to kill her,” the victim’s sister said as she gave an impact statement. “I will never get my sister back. This monster did this to her.”

As the hearing concluded, Stewart asked for permission to speak and apologized to the family.

“I can’t express to ya’ll how sorry I am, I don’t have any idea why it happened,” he said. “Of all people, I killed a woman, a female, and I love and respect women. For me to be standing here on a murder trial – sorry isn’t enough.”