Arlington Native Allegedly Nearly Decapitates Prostitute in Fatal Stabbing in Florida

A 20-year-old Arlington native allegedly murdered, and almost beheaded, a prostitute in his Lake Park, Fla., apartment on Sunday, Dec. 16, according to reports.

Paul Charles Farina, who had just moved to Florida two weeks prior to enter a drug treatment program, according to a CBS12 News report, allegedly stabbed 24-year-old Alexis N. Lace, of Riviera Beach, Fla., in the neck multiple times. He was arrested by Palm Beach County sheriffs that day and was charged with second-degree murder, according to reports.

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Farina told police that he met Lace, whom he did not know previously, on the street and propositioned her for oral sex, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, via a report in the Sun-Sentinel. He said they went back to his apartment on Foresteria Drive in Lake Park and smoked marijuana, according to the report. He then asked her about buying prescription drugs, the report states.

Farina said an argument then broke out when Lace wanted him to pay for the pills, according to the report. He said Lace picked up a kitchen knife and pointed it at him. As the two then struggled, he grabbed another knife and stabbed her in the neck, the report states.

When Lace kept fighting him, Farina said he overpowered her and continued stabbing her in the neck “in order to keep her away from him,” according to the police report, via the Sun-Sentinel.

The wounds nearly caused “a full detachment of her head,” according to the case’s probable cause affidavit, via the Sun-Sentinel. Her scalp was also cut, the report states.

Police responded to the scene after a neighbor heard the commotion and called, according to the report. Neighbors told police they heard a woman scream, “Why are you doing this? I have three kids!” the report states.

Farina initially told police an unknown man entered the apartment and attacked Lace but later recanted his story, according to the report.

Read the full Sun-Sentinel report.