According to CeCe McDonald's testimony, 47-year-old Dean Schmitz yelled, “Look at that boy dressed like a girl." Molly Flaherty, Dean's ex-girlfriend, yelled out something to the effect of, "I can take all three of you bitches on." Without provocation, Flaherty smashed a glass bottle against CeCe's face.

Allegedly, a fight broke out which ended with CeCe pulling a pair of fabric scissors from her purse and stabbing Schmitz in the chest. Witnesses told police Schmitz was trying to pull people off McDonald when he held his hand to his shirt and said, “You stabbed me.” According to another witness, McDonald then said, “Yes, I did.”

Schmitz, a father of three with an extensive criminal history, died at the scene from a stab wound to his chest. CeCe McDonald, the only individual arrested that night, would be treated over at the Hennepin County Medical Center later that morning for a laceration to her face.