Left inset: Jason Filas (Dakota County). Right inset: Danielle Warren (HOPE Coalition/Facebook). Background: The area where Jason Filas and Danielle Warren lived in Burnsville, Minn. (KSTP/YouTube).
The haunting last words of a Minnesota woman — “He has a knife! Call 911! Call 911!” — were recorded during a desperate phone call to her sister before her husband fatally stabbed her nine times in the head, neck, and chest, as reported by police.
Jason Philip Filas, aged 48, faces charges of second-degree intentional murder for the death of Danielle Warren, 32, the mother of his children, on May 7, according to a press release issued by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office. A criminal complaint reveals how Filas allegedly murdered Warren inside a Burnsville home as she tried to seek help from her sister, according to the document.
When the sister tried calling back after the call disconnected, Filas allegedly answered and told her, “She should have never cheated on me. You better call 911,” before hanging up.
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Officers were called to the home by the sister at around 9:35 a.m., with police reporting that they are “familiar with the address” due to recent calls reporting domestic violence.
“Upon arrival, officers noticed blood on the front door handle,” the complaint says. “An officer went to the back of the home and was able to see the Victim near a couch in the home through a window. She appeared to be unresponsive and there was a large amount of blood visible.”
Officers forced their way into the residence and saw that the victim was sitting upright against the couch, with what appeared to be multiple “stab and slashing wounds” to her face, neck and upper torso, according to police.
“The blood on the victim was still wet in appearance, and there was a 12-inch kitchen knife with blood on it in the hallway between the kitchen and living room,” the complaint says. “The victim was declared deceased at the scene. Two of the Victim’s children, ages 5 and 9 months, were present in the home. Defendant was not present when officers arrived.”
Before her death, Warren called her sister and alleged that Filas was attacking her and “freaking out.” Warren pretended to be on the phone with police to try and scare Filas into leaving, per the complaint. She was talking to the sister about coming to her house when Filas allegedly set upon Warren with the knife.
“The Victim suddenly started screaming, ‘He has a knife! Call 911! Call 911!”” the complaint alleges. “The Victim continued to scream for [the sister] to hurry, the call disconnected, and [the sister] called 911.”
Warren’s sister told police that the couple’s relationship was “deteriorating in recent months” and Filas had been “angry” with Warren and had followed her to a store because he “believed she was cheating on him,” the complaint says.
Police had previously responded to a call of a domestic assault involving Filas and Warren on March 13, with a third party who was on the phone with Warren claiming she heard Filas hurting the Minnesota mother. The attorney’s office reports that Filas has a history of domestic violence involving Warren and he was charged with domestic assault for the March 13 incident. He recently pleaded guilty to violating the associated domestic abuse no contact order for an offense on April 2, according to the attorney’s office.
Filas is being held at the Dakota County Jail. His bail has been set at $2 million and his next court appearance is scheduled for May 27.
