Ex arrested after Minneapolis woman found dead under tarp, mattress following car crash

MINNEAPOLIS (TCN) -- A 32-year-old woman is facing a murder charge after her ex-girlfriend was found stabbed to death following a car crash.

According to the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, on Sunday, June 22, at around 7 a.m., deputies received a call about a single-car crash on Interstate 90 and responded to the scene. While there, they made contact with the driver, Margot Lewis, and checked her car for any additional victims. Deputies discovered a body in the backseat and said the "conditions of the deceased were suspicious."

The sheriff’s office said it was "immediately apparent that the death was not a result of the motor vehicle crash."

Paramedics transported Lewis to a nearby hospital for medical clearance, and then she was booked into the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center for interference with a dead body.

Investigators identified the victim as Liara Kaylee Tsai, and they found an apartment under her name in Minneapolis. Law enforcement from the Olmsted County Sheriff’s Office, Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, and Minneapolis Police Department obtained a warrant to search Tsai’s apartment. While inside, they found a "scene indicating violence."

Tsai’s cause of death has been listed as multiple sharp force injuries. Lewis was transferred to the Hennepin County Jail, where she is in custody on two counts of murder.

Court documents cited by USA Today say Tsai’s body was "cold to the touch," and was "wrapped in a bed sheet, a blanket, a futon-style mattress, and a tarp." She reportedly had a "large wound on the right side of the neck around the carotid artery."

According to Minneapolis Public Radio, Lewis was in town from Boston visiting Tsai. Both Tsai and Lewis are transgender women, but officials reportedly said there did not appear to be any indications of an anti-trans hate crime.

OutFront Minnesota said in a statement Tsai was a DJ, producer, crisis counselor, and "beloved member of the trans community here in Minnesota."

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