Glapoujay Garmondeh’s relatives say the engineer and father worked extra shifts to provide for his children and help family abroad.
COLD SPRING, Minn. — Three days before his 31st birthday, Glapoujay Garmondeh was working a part-time shift at a central Minnesota group home when authorities say a resident chased him outside and fatally attacked him with a knife.
To prosecutors, the June 27 killing is a pending second-degree murder case against 33-year-old Luke Patrick McLane. To Garmondeh’s relatives, it is the loss of a husband, father, twin, son, engineer and soccer player whose work at St. Luke Home was one part of a larger effort to care for others. His family called him Jay and said his commitment to providing for the people around him shaped nearly every part of his life.
Garmondeh’s story began in Liberia, where his father, G. Gbayou Garmondeh, said he and his wife raised nine children. The parents stressed education and made sacrifices so each child would have opportunities to succeed. The family later moved to Oregon, where Jay developed as both a student and an athlete. His father said the children’s achievements became a source of pride for a family that had worked to establish a new life in the United States.
Jay eventually earned an engineering degree and moved to Minnesota, where his family said he found full-time work in the field. He also continued playing soccer, joining the East Coast Stars, an amateur team based in Brooklyn Park. The sport gave him another community beyond his relatives and professional life. Family members described a man who was able to balance technical work, athletics and the demands of raising two children who are both younger than four.
His father said Jay took part-time work at St. Luke Home to strengthen his family’s finances. Relatives said the extra income helped him plan for his children’s education and allowed him to send money to an older sister. The home, operated by Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud, provides residential services to adults with disabilities. Jay’s family said he saw the residents as people he was there to serve rather than merely clients attached to a work schedule.
That service role made the circumstances of his death especially difficult for his father. McLane lived at the home, according to the family and charging documents summarized by local news organizations. G. Gbayou Garmondeh said his son died at the hands of someone he had been assigned to support. He described Jay’s concern for other people as one of his defining qualities and said his son sometimes cared too much rather than too little.
Police were called to the residence in the 400 block of Eighth Avenue North at about 8:30 p.m. on June 27. Officers found Jay outside with grave injuries, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office determined that he died from multiple sharp-force injuries and classified the death as a homicide. Authorities have not announced a confirmed motive or publicly explained what led to the confrontation.
The criminal complaint alleges that witnesses saw McLane run toward Jay with a knife, pursue him outside and force him to the ground. Witnesses reported hearing threats during the attack. Responding officers said McLane was near Jay with blood on his clothes and a knife in his possession. The complaint alleges that he said, “I told you I was going to do it.” Surveillance video also recorded the attack, according to the charging documents.
McLane was arrested at the scene and charged in Stearns County District Court with second-degree murder involving a dangerous weapon. The charge is an allegation, and McLane is presumed innocent unless the state proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. A judge ordered a competency evaluation before the case proceeds further. That examination concerns whether he can understand the court process and assist his attorney; it does not determine guilt or innocence.
As the legal process began, Jay’s twin brother, Glapougbae Garmondeh, spoke about a loss he said remained difficult to comprehend. He described Jay as an exceptional father and said the family’s grief sometimes overwhelmed him. Jay left behind his wife, a young son and a young daughter. Their ages and other private details have received limited public attention as relatives have focused on preserving his memory rather than the violent manner of his death.
The family’s questions extend beyond what happened during the final moments of Jay’s shift. A staffing schedule shared with CBS Minnesota indicated that he was assigned to work alone across two consecutive shifts that day. His father said another employee might have changed the outcome. His twin brother, who previously worked for Catholic Charities for about six years, said employees had raised concerns about needing additional staff at homes where workers could face difficult or unsafe situations.
Catholic Charities said the home was staffed as scheduled and that the staffing level matched the approved support plan in place on June 27. The organization said such plans are developed through a process involving county representatives, case managers, support teams, assessments and service authorizations. It declined to discuss details of any individual client’s plan or confirm whether Jay was the only employee working, citing privacy requirements and continuing investigations.
Aaron Fisk, the nonprofit’s president and CEO, attended Jay’s funeral and later told the Cold Spring City Council that it had been among the most painful experiences of his life. Fisk said three clients were staying at St. Luke Home on the night of the killing and that Catholic Charities had determined a ratio of one employee to three clients was appropriate for that residence. When asked whether he would choose two workers if given another chance, he said there were many things he would redo.
The organization has opened an internal review while police continue investigating. Catholic Charities said its focus remains on supporting employees and everyone affected by the death. Prosecutors have declined to discuss the pending case publicly, and McLane’s defense has not offered a detailed response to the allegations. A remote court hearing is scheduled for August.
For Jay’s relatives, the court dates and institutional reviews are only part of what follows. His father and twin brother have emphasized the life that came before the case: a childhood shaped by a family’s sacrifices, an engineering career built through education, weekends and evenings spent playing soccer, and extra work accepted to give two small children a stronger future. Those are the memories they say should define him.
Author note: Last updated July 28, 2026.