After accidentally stabbing and killing his wife, police said a man didn't call 911 because he was afraid and left her body to decompose inside their Miami Beach apartment.
Russel Ewing, 53, was taken into custody Wednesday night following a brief standoff with SWAT officers. He appeared in bond court Thursday and was charged with second-degree murder.
Officers responded before 8 p.m. to a man armed with a knife in the 7400 block of Carlyle Avenue, Miami Beach police said.
A woman called 911 after she tried to check on her friend at the location, police said. When she got to the apartment, she encountered a hostile man who shut the door and wouldn't let her inside.
When officers appeared at the residence, police said Ewing opened the door -- naked with a knife in his hand -- and refused to come out. A short time after SWAT negotiated, Ewing agreed to turn himself in.
The woman's body was found decomposing and under a blanket, according to police. That woman and Ewing were once married, got divorced, but they recently got back together again. Officials did not release her identity.
Ewing told officers he got into an argument with his wife about finances. He was taking out his kitchen knives from a bag, and while holding a knife in his left hand, he turned around to say something but accidentally stabbed her in the abdomen, police said in an arrest report.
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Ewing said he became afraid and didn't call 911. Neighbors described the couple as "nice, normal" and thought the foul smell coming from the apartment were animals using the bathroom.
Ewing is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center under no bond. Attorney information was not available.
