Jason Philip Filas, 48 of Burnsville, was charged* today with one count of second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death of Danielle Grace Warren, 32, Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena announced.
As stated in the criminal complaint, at approximately 9:35 a.m. on Wednesday, May 7, Burnsville officers were dispatched to a residence on a report of a domestic disturbance.
Upon arrival, officers noticed blood on the front door handle. An officer then went to the back of the house and saw someone who appeared to be unresponsive and a large amount of blood through the window. Officers used force to enter the home and found Warren sitting upright against a couch with multiple stab wounds to her face, neck and chest. A bloody, 12-inch kitchen knife was found in the hallway between the kitchen and living room. Ms. Warren was pronounced deceased at the scene. Two young children of Warren and Filas were located in the residence and were unharmed.
Burnsville officers issued an alert to other law enforcement agencies as Filas was not at the residence when they arrived.
Earlier that morning, Warren had called her sister as Filas was “freaking out" after he saw a man leave the house on the home security camera. Ms. Warren told her sister that she was scared of Filas and wanted her keys so she could leave the house and go to the sister's residence. The victim then called her sister a second time and pretended to be speaking to the police as Filas was in the house. Ms. Warren suddenly started screaming, “he has a knife, call 911, call 911," before the call was disconnected.
Her sister immediately called 911 and then called Warren back to check on her but Filas answered the phone. He stated, “she should have never cheated on me, you better call 911," and turned off the phone.
A short time later, a Lakeville police officer saw the vehicle registered to Filas driving at a high rate of speed. The officer pulled the vehicle over and ordered Filas to exit the vehicle and to get to the ground. He eventually stood up and walked aggressively toward the officer. Mr. Filas ignored the officer's commands and fled on foot. He was then tasered and handcuffed.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office found a minimum of nine stab wounds to the head, neck and upper torso during the preliminary observation. Ms. Warren's death is consistent with homicidal violence.
Court records indicate that Filas has a history of domestic violence involving the victim as he was charged with domestic assault on March 13 (19AV-CR-25-2499). He recently pled guilty to violating the associated domestic abuse no contact order (DANCO) from an offense on April 2 (19AV-CR-252-3147). Burnsville city attorneys are currently prosecuting these offenses.
Filas is currently in custody at the Dakota County Jail. Bail was set in the amount $2 million with conditions by Judge Timothy McManus. His next court appearance is scheduled for May 27 at 1:30 p.m. in Hastings.
If you or a loved one is a victim of domestic assault, help is available — call Minnesota Day One at 866-223-1111 or visit www.dayoneservices.org.
A summary of the facts pertaining to this case can be found in the criminal complaint at Criminal Complaint Search.
*Criminal charges are not evidence of guilt. A defendant/suspect is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.