ST. LOUIS (AP) - A St. Louis-area man has been convicted of killing his longtime girlfriend outside a St. Louis hospital in 2008.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://bit.ly/HU9ZOA) reported that jurors found 56-year-old Carlos Roberts of Bel-Ridge guilty of second-degree murder in the attack that killed 51-year-old Vickie Tankins outside Children's Hospital. Authorities say the two were visiting Tankins' 7-year-old granddaughter while she was being treated for injuries sustained in a house fire that killed the girl's younger brother.
Investigators say Roberts and Tankins had been arguing in an outside smoking area when the woman was stabbed. Roberts then allegedly cut himself in the throat.
The couple had lived together for 32 years.
The defense said Roberts was experiencing acute stress disorder caused by trauma and guilt over escaping the fire.