Schenectady suspect in Rome double slaying charged with murder

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

ROME — An upstate New York man accused of killing the mother of his child and a friend who tried to save her has been charged with murder.

A court official says 26-year-old Aaron Welch Sr. of Schenectady was arraigned Tuesday on single counts of first- and second-degree murder after being released from a hospital where he was taken with self-inflicted wounds to his throat after the June 4 attack in the city of Rome.

Authorities said he fatally stabbed 22-year-old Stephanie Morrison and 31-year-old Shawn Kessler of Camden.

They said Welch attacked Morrison as she returned home from work. Kessler, one of two friends babysitting Morrison’s young daughter, rushed to help the woman.

Welch is being held without bail for a hearing Friday. A message left for his lawyer wasn’t initially returned.