A man in his 20s is dead and a second man has been charged with murder after a fatal stabbing in St. James Town early Monday.

A giant blood stain appeared on the carpet on the second floor of 135 Rose. Ave. and bloody footprints were on the third as Toronto police investigators scoured the lower floors and stairwells inside the highrise near Parliament and Wellesley Sts. late Monday morning.

Investigators and paramedics were called just before 2 a.m. after what police are calling a “domestic incident.” The men did not live together, but were in an “off-again, on-again” relationship, said Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan.

The victim was pronounced dead on scene after being found on the second floor, though he lived on the third floor of the building. The suspect, now charged with second-degree murder, suffered minor stab wounds and was treated in hospital early Monday.

Ryan said police may release a photo of the suspect because investigators are attempting to piece together the man’s whereabouts in the hours before the stabbing.

Police have spoken with the victim’s father, who appeared at the building Monday morning apparently unaware of the homicide. Approached by a reporter while on his way inside, he expressed shock and sadness at the news someone inside had been killed, saying “that is so sad.”

The man then took the elevator to the third floor, and soon after was seen being escorted to a police cruiser by two officers.

Ryan said he has spoken to the father and he is doing “as bad as you would expect.”

Residents in the building, situated across from a children’s playground, say the apartment complex is typically safe, and full of families and elderly people.

“It’s scary, because we have children,” said Hari Maharjan, who lives on the second floor, down the hall from the large bloodstain near the elevators.

Maharjan said he did not hear any noise in the night, but was unable to leave his apartment in the morning because police were still securing the crime scene.

Others in the building said they heard some noises in the night, but described it as a normal weekend ruckus.

Leelawathy Selvanayakam said she looked out her balcony early Monday and was alarmed to see police cars lined up outside the building she’d lived in for many years.

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“It’s frightening, but normally this building is a very nice place,” she said.