A man with a previous no-contact order against the mother of his three children stabbed her at least nine times at her Burnsville home on Wednesday, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday.
Danielle Grace Warren (Courtesy of GoFundMe)
The killing of 32-year-old Danielle Grace Warren at the hands of Jason Philip Filas came less than two months after police were called to the home after the 48-year-old allegedly physically assaulted her during an argument, court records say.
Warren told police that she feared Filas, who was charged with misdemeanor domestic abuse for the March 13 incident. He was later released from jail on conditional bond ahead of a next court appearance.
Warren also had a domestic assault no-contact order in place until April 23.
On Wednesday, police were sent to the home in the 2000 block of 117th Street East about 9:35 a.m. after Warren’s sister called 911 to report a domestic assault. She told the dispatcher she got a call from Warren, who said Filas was there and “freaking out,” the complaint says.
Officers saw blood on the front door handle. An officer went to the back, looked through a window and saw Warren near a couch. She appeared to be unresponsive and there was a large amount of blood visible.
Officers forced their way into the home and saw that Warren was sitting upright against the couch, with what appeared to be multiple stab and slashing wounds to her face, neck and chest.
A 12-inch kitchen knife with blood on it was in the hallway between the kitchen and living room.
Warren was pronounced dead at the scene. Two of Warren’s children, ages 5 and 9 months, were in the home. Filas had left.
Officers spoke with Warren’s sister, who said Warren called her about 9:30 a.m. and was scared because Filas was monitoring a security camera on their house remotely, and that he had seen another man leave the home that morning, the complaint says.
She said Warren told her she wanted to get her keys so she could leave and go to her home with the kids because of her fear of Filas.
Shortly after the call, Warren called again, her sister said, and pretended she was talking to police because Filas was in the house with her. Warren suddenly began screaming that he had a knife and to call 911.
As Warren continued to scream for her sister to hurry, the call disconnected.
She called 911, then Warren’s phone. Filas answered, and told her, “She should have never cheated on me. You better call 911,” the complaint says. The phone was then turned off.
Warren’s sister told officers she was aware Warren and Filas’ relationship was deteriorating in recent months. She said Filas had been angry with Warren recently, and had followed her to a store because he believed she was cheating on him.
Arrested after Lakeville traffic stop
Officers put out an alert to other law enforcement agencies to try and locate Filas.
Jason Philip Filas (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)
A Lakeville police officer saw Filas’ vehicle driving at a high rate of speed on Kenwood Trail in Lakeville around 10 a.m. and made a traffic stop. Filas, who was driving, was ordered to exit the vehicle and get to the ground.
While on the ground, Filas continually looked around the area while being detained and eventually stood up, the complaint says. He grabbed at his waistband and walked aggressively toward the officer, despite the officer’s commands for him to get back to the ground.
Filas made comments including “shoot me” and “you’re not going to shoot me” while he walked toward the officer, the complaint says. He ran, and officers deployed their Tasers twice before he was subdued and handcuffed.
Past incidents
In the March incident, officers were sent to the Burnsville home on a domestic assault call after Warren called another person. That person called 911, saying that a struggle and Warren crying could be heard in the background. Filas was yelling while Warren said, “please let go.”
“When officers spoke with (Warren) on March 13, (she) expressed fear that Filas was going to hurt her,” Friday’s complaint says.
Less than three weeks later, on April 2, Filas was charged with violating a domestic abuse no-contact order after he was pulled over for speeding in Burnsville and Warren was in the car with him. Filas pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge and an agreement with the prosecution called for a stayed jail term at sentencing, which was scheduled for July 9.
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At an April 23 hearing, Dakota County District Judge Matthew Schmidt canceled the no-contact order. Court documents do not make clear why the order was canceled.
Court appearance Friday
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office found Warren had a minimum of nine stab wounds to her head, neck and upper torso, according to Friday’s complaint in Dakota County District Court charging Filas with second-degree murder.
Filas, of Burnsville, remains jailed ahead of a first appearance on the charge scheduled for Friday afternoon.
Help for victims of domestic violence is available through the Day One hotline by calling 866-223-1111 or texting 612-399-9995.
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