ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man accused of stabbing another man to death last summer is making his first appearance before a judge Wednesday afternoon.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement, the stabbing happened on July 19, 2024, at an apartment building in the 1500 block of Olive Street, in the Downtown West neighborhood.
Police said Jason l. Chatman, 47, and the victim, Jeffery Bell, were seen together just before the stabbing. Surveillance video from the apartment building shows Chatman and Bell riding an elevator and getting off on the floor of Chatman’s unit.
Police said Bell later returned to the elevator with stab wounds, which proved fatal. Bell was taken to the hospital but could not be saved. He was 62.
According to investigators, a witness told police they heard Chatman and Bell arguing just before the stabbing.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Chatman with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Chatman remains jailed without bond.