Jason Philip Filas Sentenced to Life in Prison After Danielle Grace Warren Was Stabbed to Death in Burnsville

Un giudice della contea di Dakota il lunedì ha condannato Jason Philip Filas, 49 anni, alla vita in prigione per aver pugnalato fatalmente Danielle Grace Warren, la 32enne madre dei suoi tre figli, dentro una casa di Burnsville il 7 maggio 2025. Il termine arrivò sedici mesi dopo che Warren urlava in un telefono che Filas aveva un coltello, e quattordici giorni dopo che un giudice diverso cancellava l'ordine senza contatto domestico-uso che Doveva tenerlo lontano da lei.

Judge David Lutz imposed the sentence after Filas pleaded guilty on September 18 to first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse with a past pattern of domestic abuse, the Sun Thisweek reported. L'accordo di patteggiamento stabilisce un termine di vita obbligatorio con la possibilità di libertà vigilata dopo 30 anni. Due conteggi da un'accusa del Gran Giuri' del 2025, omicidio premeditato di primo grado e omicidio intenzionale di secondo grado, sono stati respinti alla sentenza, the Pioneer Press reported.

Filas entrò in quello che gli avvocati del Minnesota chiamano un appello Norgaard. Ha accettato la responsabilità penale e ha ammesso di non essere innocente, pur mantenendo che non ricorda la pugnalata, CBS Minnesota reported from the court file. That plea does not require a defendant to narrate the killing from memory. It requires him to agree that the state’s evidence would convict him.

"Nessuna frase può guarire completamente la perdita e il dolore sopportato dalla famiglia di Danielle, amici e cari", ha detto il procuratore della contea di Dakota Kathy Keena dopo l'udienza. "Spero che questo risultato fornirà una certa misura di pace."

A sister heard the last call from 117th Street

The reclamo penale nel file di tribunale 19HA-CR-25-920 pone l'uccisione sul blocco 2000 di 117th Street East, l'indirizzo Burnsville elencato per Filas. Gli ufficiali conoscevano già la casa dalle precedenti chiamate di violenza domestica.

Poco dopo le 9:30 del 7 maggio 2025, Warren ha telefonato a sua sorella. Aveva paura, dice il reclamo, perché Filas stava guardando la telecamera di sicurezza di casa da qualche altra parte e aveva visto un altro uomo andarsene quella mattina. Voleva le chiavi di sua sorella per far uscire i bambini. La denuncia identifica Filas come il padre dei tre figli di Warren. Ha detto che stava "divertendo".

Poco dopo Warren ha chiamato di nuovo. Questa volta Filas era dentro. Sua sorella ha detto agli investigatori che Warren ha finto di parlare con la polizia. Poi la finzione si e' rotta. Warren gridò: "Ha un coltello! Chiama il 911! Continuava a urlare perche' sua sorella si sbrighi. La linea è morta.

Gli ufficiali di Burnsville sono stati spediti alle 9:35 del mattino. Il sangue era sulla maniglia della porta. Un ufficiale ha guardato attraverso una finestra posteriore e ha visto Warren vicino a un divano, apparendo non rispondente, con una grande quantità di sangue visibile. Gli agenti hanno forzato la loro strada e l'hanno trovata seduta dritta contro il divano con pugnale e ferite da taglio alla faccia, al collo e al petto. Un coltello da cucina da 12 pollici con sangue su di esso si trova nel corridoio tra la cucina e il soggiorno.

Warren e' stato dichiarato morto sulla scena. L'ufficio dell'esaminatore medico della contea di Hennepin ha documentato un minimo di nove ferite alla testa, al collo e al torso superiore e ha trovato la morte coerente con la violenza omicida. Due dei bambini, di età 5 e 9 mesi, erano in casa e non erano feriti. Filas era già sparito.

La sorella ha chiamato il 911, poi ha chiamato di nuovo il telefono di Warren. Filas rispose. Secondo la denuncia, disse: "Non avrebbe mai dovuto tradirmi. Meglio che chiami il 911." Il telefono e' stato spento. La sorella ha detto che la relazione si stava deteriorando per mesi, che Filas era stato arrabbiato, e che aveva seguito Warren in un negozio perché credeva che stesse tradendo Lui.

Stopped in Lakeville, then tased twice

Verso le 10 del mattino, un ufficiale di Lakeville ha visto il veicolo registrato a Filas viaggiando ad un alto tasso di velocità su Kenwood Trail e l'ha tirato sopra. Filas è stato ordinato fuori e a terra. La lamentela dice che continuava a guardarsi intorno, poi si alzava, afferrava la cintura e camminava aggressivamente verso l'ufficiale nonostante i comandi per tornare giù. Ha detto "Chiami" e "non mi sparerai". E' scappato. Gli agenti hanno schierato Tasers due volte prima di essere ammanettato.

Dakota County charged him two days later with second-degree intentional murder with a dangerous weapon. Judge Timothy McManus set bail at $2 million. On October 2, 2025, a grand jury indicted Filas on the two first-degree counts and the second-degree count, Keena’s office announced. Either first-degree count carried a mandatory life sentence under Minnesota Statutes section 609.185. The count he admitted is the one used when a killing happens during domestic abuse and the defendant already had a pattern of abusing the victim or another household member.

The order a judge vacated the same day as a guilty plea

On March 13, 2025, Burnsville police went to the home for a domestic assault. A witness on the phone with Warren heard a struggle, Warren crying, and Filas yelling. Warren said, “please let go.” She told officers she was afraid he was going to hurt her. The Minnesota Star Tribune reported a sharper account from the filings: Filas “grabbed [Warren] by her hair and pulled her head down,” and the two “physically struggled” while he took her cellphone. One filing said, “[Warren] feels scared of [Filas] and believes he will hurt her.” That case was charged as domestic assault in file 19AV-CR-25-2499, and a domestic abuse no-contact order followed.

The order did not hold. On April 2, 2025, police stopped Filas for speeding in Burnsville and found Warren in the car. He pleaded guilty on April 23 to a misdemeanor violation of the order in file 19AV-CR-25-3147. A city agreement called for a stayed jail term. The same day, Judge Matthew Schmidt granted a defense request and vacated the no-contact order after Filas pleaded guilty and pledged to remain law-abiding. The filings do not give a fuller reason. Fourteen days later, Warren was dead.

A protection order only works if a court leaves it in place. Filas had already been accused of pulling Warren by the hair, had already been caught with her while the order was active, and had already heard her say she believed he would hurt her. Related police accountability reporting shows how often those warnings are treated as paperwork.

What her sister wants people to remember

KARE 11 spoke with Warren’s sister, Hannah Ryden, days after the killing. The three children were then 10, 5, and 9 months old. The two younger ones were in the house. Ryden, who stepped in to care for them, and other loved ones described Warren as a gifted artist who put other people first. A community painting set out for her and the children filled with signatures within a day.

“She did not deserve anything that happened to her whatsoever,” Ryden said. “I can’t imagine life without her right now, but she was amazing. I want them to remember her by how she was as a mom and as a person.”

She said Warren “cares about people more than she cares about herself, especially her kids.” The sisters were “like what people would say a soul mate, best friends,” the sort who said the same words at the same time. The oldest nephew told Ryden, “Happy Mother’s Day, auntie Hannah, since you’re kind of like our mom now.” She said she started crying.

In May 2025, Violence Free Minnesota counted Warren as the state’s sixth confirmed intimate-partner homicide victim that year. The number did not stay there. MPR News reported that advocates later counted at least 31 Minnesotans killed in intimate-partner violence in 2025, most of them women, along with one child and four men. About a third of those deaths came in November and December. The coalition has long said no government list captures every case, especially victims who rarely make the news.

“For every person who dies, there’s dozens of family members and loved ones who are left behind whose lives are irrevocably altered,” Meggie Royer, senior communications manager for Violence Free Minnesota, told MPR News. “It is really overwhelming and devastating.”

What the life term does not settle

Life with parole eligibility after 30 years is the mandatory floor for the first-degree count Filas admitted, not life without release. He was 49 when Lutz sentenced him. Eligibility is not a release date. It is the first moment a board is allowed to say no, and by then Warren’s children will be adults.

The Norgaard plea leaves a gap a jury might have closed. Filas did not have to explain why a security-camera image of another man leaving the house ended with nine stab wounds and a bloody kitchen knife in a hallway where a 5-year-old and a 9-month-old were present. He accepted that the evidence was enough. A claimed loss of memory is not an element of the crime.

Anyone in immediate danger can call 911. People in the United States can reach the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, by texting START to 88788, or at thehotline.org. In Minnesota, Day One connects callers to shelter and advocates at 1-866-223-1111 or through dayoneservices.org, the line Dakota County published when Filas was first charged.

More homicide and court coverage lives in crime news e Stati Uniti d'America from The AEGIS Alliance, including reporting on off-duty officers and a domestic-assault stop that turned into a beating.