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“He’s stabbing her,” the paramedic said into his radio.

Neighbour Lorraine Cannon was sitting on her back deck when she heard what she described as a “blood-curdling” scream coming from the street in the normally quiet neighbourhood.

“‘Help me, God help me!’” the woman screamed, Cannon said.

Cannon said the paramedic told her he kicked a knife with a silver blade and wooden handle away from the man, who was naked and covered in blood.

“The woman was lying on the ground bleeding profusely. She wasn’t moving,” Cannon said. The woman appeared to have been knifed in the stomach.

Cannon wanted to help the woman who lay dying in the street. She wanted to pull down the skirt of the victim’s nightdress, she told reporters at the scene Tuesday.

Patrol officers arrived at the scene and took the man into custody without incident. The victim was transported to hospital but was without vital signs after the attack. Police said the woman, who was in her 50s, died from her injuries. Homicide investigators have not yet released the identities of either the victim or the man they have in custody as they try to reach the woman’s next-of-kin.

A pool of blood, a pair of glasses and a piece of dark clothing lay in the middle of the street Tuesday evening as police continued to investigate outside the rental home believed to have been rented by the suspect in the past month.

Neighbour Roberta True told the Citizen that the woman who was killed went to the hospital Monday evening after apparently injuring her right forearm. When an ambulance arrived Monday evening to take her to the hospital, her arm was wrapped in white gauze, True said.

Staff Sgt. Bruce Pirt of the homicide unit said police are continuing to interview witnesses. The suspect will be held in police custody overnight.

Police expect to formally charge the man in connection to the homicide on Wednesday.

With files from Meghan Hurley

syogaretnam@ottawacitizen.com

avoski@ottawacitizen.com