Minnesota man accused of fatally setting ex-girlfriend on fire then burning down his home

ST. PAUL, Minn. (TCD) -- A 47-year-old man was arrested for allegedly lighting his ex-girlfriend on fire in a shipping warehouse and then setting his own home ablaze.

According to a St. Paul Police Department statement, on March 15 just before 9 a.m., officers responded to a call about a woman on fire at a warehouse on the 1700 block of Wynne Avenue in the city’s Como Park neighborhood. First responders located a woman in her 40s who "was unresponsive and not breathing and appeared to have been badly burned."

St. Paul Fire medics arrived at the shipping warehouse and declared the woman dead at the scene.

Pioneer Press reports the victim was identified as 44-year-old Kelli Ranning Goodermont. She reportedly worked at the warehouse where she was killed.

St. Paul Police said in their statement that the suspect, Patrick Morris Simmons, "had been in a previous relationship with the victim." St. Paul Police informed Bloomington Police about Simmons because he lived in Bloomington. He was taken into custody by Bloomington Police near his home, which was reportedly on fire at the time of his arrest.

Simmons was transported to St. Paul Police Department, where he was taken into custody without incident.

According to Pioneer Press, Simmons worked at the warehouse as a truck driver and Goodermont was a dispatcher. Goodermont reportedly filed a protective order against Simmons in 2021, and in 2018, he was charged for assault against Goodermont.

The Star Tribune reports Goodermont and Simmons had been in a relationship for about 10 years until last year. Simmons was committed to the hospital for mental health treatment in 2021 and reportedly remained there for several weeks. Goodermont allegedly said in her protection order request that Simmons drugged her, threatened her, and assaulted her.

Pioneer Press reports Goodermont wrote in the protection order that Simmons "started having a psychotic break" and believed "green men with guns were climbing trees in his backyard and they were going to kill him." He also allegedly said Goodermont’s roommate was a "witch/devil."

Ramsey County Jail records show Simmons was taken into custody on a murder charge.

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