NORTHWOOD — The man charged in the stabbing death of a Northwood woman last summer in Swensrud Park will claim self-defense when he appears for trial in June.

Charles Kenville, of the Fort Dodge, Iowa, public defender’s office, filed a notification of defense Monday afternoon for Tyrone Robin Washington Jr. The notification did not provide any other details.

Washington, 40, is accused of stabbing Justina Marie Smith, 30, to death on the morning of Aug. 5 before he reportedly fled the park in Smith’s 2003 Pontiac Grand Prix. Iowa State Patrol troopers arrested Washington in Scott County, Iowa, that afternoon.

According to an autopsy, Smith died from what has been described as “multiple sharp-force injuries.”

Washington was Smith’s live-in boyfriend, but Smith had requested a restraining order in July after Washington allegedly assaulted and strangled her.

A homicide trial is slated to begin June 2 in Fort Dodge after a Worth County judge moved it from Northwood because of pretrial publicity and concerns about the racial prejudices of the community.

He faces one count of first-degree murder.

Washington has squabbled with his assigned public defenders, asking and receiving a new one in January. He now claims Kenville is treating him unprofessionally. The judge said his claims are without merit.