LYNN, Mass. — A man accused of murdering his sister inside an apartment on the North Shore of Massachusetts over the weekend has been ordered held without bail.
Joshua Smith, 30, was arraigned Monday in Lynn District Court on charges including one count of murder and one count of kidnapping in connection with the death of 38-year-old Michelle Knox. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf.
Officers responding to an apartment on Newhall Street shortly after 1 a.m. on Sunday found Smith outside of the residence “making numerous inculpatory statements about killing his sister," Assistant Essex District Attorney Stefanie Stanbro told the court.
The body of Smith’s sister, later identified as Knox, was found inside an apartment he had been staying at with his father.
The court also said that Smith was on probation at the time of the alleged killing.
Details surrounding the nature of Knox’s death weren’t immediately available because prosecutors filed a motion to impound the police report and criminal complaint in this case due to the recency of the investigation. The judge presiding over the hearing allowed the motion.
Emilio Gonzales, who lives on Newhall Street, saw the scene unfold early Sunday morning, capturing pictures and videos of the emergency response.
“It was like horrific screams,” he told Boston 25. “Like somebody got stabbed or something... We’re still processing the whole part. We weren’t expecting something like that to happen.”
State troopers assigned to Tucker’s office and the Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are assisting Lynn police with an investigation.
Smith is due back in court on Oct. 14 for a probable cause hearing.
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