New Charges Filed in 2009 Burnsville Stabbing

New felony charges have been filed against an Eagan man who was acquitted of murder in 2009 after a stabbing that left a 35-year-old Burnsville woman dead and a 23-year-old man injured.

Taylor James Pass, 21, is now charged with attempted second-degree murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, which has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

The new charges stem from an April 7, 2009, incident in which Tina Nicole SanRoman of Burnsville was fatally stabbed and her roommate, Odai Al-Refo, was injured when he tried to come to her aid.

A jury in November 2009 acquitted Pass on charges of second-degree murder with intent to kill and second-degree murder while committing a felony, and was unable to reach a verdict on charges of attempted first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault.

Prosecutors claimed that Pass murdered SanRamon and then tried to murder Al-Refo to eliminate him as a witness. However, a Dakota County district judge earlier this month dismissed the latter three charges against Pass, noting: “If [Pass] did not murder SanRoman, it is absurd to suggest he attempted to murder Al-Refo to conceal a crime that a jury determined he did not commit.”

Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom’s office filed the new charges this week.

According to the new complaint against Pass, Burnsville police responded a report of a stabbing at SanRoman’s townhouse late in the evening of April 7, 2009.

Al-Refo let police into the home, asking them to come inside and close the door “before he comes back,” referring to Pass.

Al-Refo’s shirt was bloody, and he had a stab wound on his neck, police said. Officers asked who had stabbed him, and he replied, “Taylor,” then provided the name and phone number of a woman who knew Pass’s full name.

Al-Refo was treated at a hospital, and then gave police this version of events:

Al-Refo was in the shower, and when he came out, he couldn’t find SanRoman, he told police. He looked in the garage, where he found Pass on top of her on the garage floor, choking her, according to the complaint

When Al-Refo tried to help SanRoman, Pass lunged at him and stabbed him in the neck with a knife, Al-Refo told officers. A struggle ensued in which Al-Refo tried to put Pass in a headlock, at which point Pass stabbed Al-Refo in the back with a knife, which broke, Al-Refo said.

When Pass went inside the house to find another knife, Al-Refo said he grabbed a child’s scooter in the garage and used it to fend off Pass until he fled in a green Ford Explorer, according to the complaint.

Police in Savage spotted Pass’s vehicle, stopped it and identified Pass, who had fresh and dried blood on his arms and clothes, along with an injury to his head.

Subsequent DNA tests on blood found on Pass’s body and clothing matched that of Al-Refo, according to the complaint.

Pass is scheduled to make a first appearance on the new charges May 14 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.