photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Keisonn Smith Jr.

The suspect in a fatal stabbing in downtown Lawrence has now been charged with murder, according to the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office.

Keisonn Smith Jr., 25, was arrested Aug. 30 in connection with the death of 20-year-old McMillin Tutu, of Kansas City, Missouri, and – after some delay – was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder and intimidation of a witness or victim, the DA’s office said. The office released no further details beyond noting that Smith would make his first court appearance today.

Smith, of Topeka, was apprehended Aug. 30 in connection with the early-morning stabbing of Tutu near Seventh and Massachusetts streets. Police said the stabbing occurred as “a weekend bar brawl turned deadly.”

Police were called to the scene around 2:40 a.m. Officers found Tutu lying on the sidewalk near a breezeway that connects Massachusetts Street to a parking lot off of New Hampshire Street. He had been stabbed several times in the chest and abdomen. He was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Once evidence pointed to Smith as the suspect, Lawrence investigators contacted the Topeka Police Department, who made the arrest at about 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 30. Detectives traveled to Topeka to interview Smith and later booked him into the Douglas County Jail.

He was not immediately charged but remained in custody on a federal hold. The nature of that hold was not clear.