PALM BAY, Fla. – A man is now locked up in Brevard County, more than a year after he claimed self-defense as he admitted to stabbing his girlfriend to death, according to Palm Bay police.
Rodney Bell, 60, was booked into jail on Tuesday.
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The investigation into Bell began in December 2019 when Bell went to the hospital in Hinam, Georgia, according to the affidavit for an arrest warrant. Local police were called after Bell came in with suspicious wounds, the affidavit said.
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Bell told investigators that he received the injuries when his girlfriend, Desiree McClendon, attacked him with knife at his home in Plam Bay three days prior to him arriving in Georgia, records show. Bell claimed he defended himself, killing McClendon in the process.
Police then responded to Bell’s home on Lyons Circle Northwest. There they found the victim covered in a sheet with multiple stab wounds to her face, throat and chest, according to the affidavit.
Officers said they smelled cleaning chemicals as they searched the home and found multiple bloody handprints on the walls.
A friend of Bell said the man had called asking to borrow money the day after the stabbing, but that Bell seemed out of sorts and was ranting about McClendon cheating on him, records show. The friend declined to give Bell the money and that was the last heard from him, police said.
Family members of the victim told police McClendon and Bell had a tumultuous relationship. At the time of the stabbing, Bell was out on bond for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, records show.
Bell now faces a charge of manslaughter.
Police did not say why it took more than a year for Bell to be charged and arrested.