Stabbing Suspect Apprehended

A Burnsville man has been taken into custody for an October 2012 stabbing incident that left another man hospitalized for over a week.

Davion Demonte McAlester, 20, was charged with second-degree assault, a felony punishable by a minimum of 12 months and one day in prison and a maximum of seven years. The charge could also carry significant financial penalties, ranging from $4,200 to $14,000 in fines. 

The stabbing occurred on the evening of Oct. 28, 2012, around 7:19 p.m. when officers of the Burnsville Police Department were dispatched to an address on Burnell Park Drive, a small stretch of road not far from Hanrehan-Murphy Park Preserve's eastern edge.

On arrival, officers found a man clutching his upper abdomen, saying that he had just been stabbed. The victim was taken to a local hospital for treatment, where he spent a week recovering from the stab wound.

Once the man was well enough to speak to police, he told investigators that the incident began with a knock on the door during dinner. A woman stood at the threshold, asking the victim if he could help her find her keys, which had been thrown into the man's yard by McAlester, she said. As the woman was talking, McAlester himself approached, telling the man not to listen to her because she was "psycho."

After briefly spatting with the woman, McAlester began to walk away. The man said he followed McAlester down the street, telling him he should not disrespect women that way. He warned McAlester that he would call the police if her keys weren't returned.

The fight escalated after McAlester returned with him to the residence. Everyone started screaming, the man said, in spite of his efforts to calm the situation. The dispute turned violent when McAlester hurled a brick at him. McAlester missed, then took a roundhouse swing. The blow landed in the man's abdomen. It was then that the man realized he hadn't been punched—he'd been stabbed by a four-inch switchblade.

None of the others present, neither the woman nor two members of the victim's household, actually witnessed McAlester stabbing the man.

McAlester was charged in absentia and a warrant was issued for his arrest on Nov. 16, 2012. He made his first appearance in court on Friday. He is being held at the Dakota County Jail on an $80,000 bond, a sum that will be reduced if McAlester agrees to abide by conditions ordered by the court.

His next court hearing is scheduled for March 26.

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