Burnsville man sentenced for attempted murder of ex-girlfriend, attack on teen

A Burnsville man who stabbed his ex-girlfriend and tried to do the same to her 14-year-old daughter was sentenced Friday to 19 years in prison.

Jason A. Lott, 38, was convicted in Dakota County District Court in January of attempted second-degree murder and three assault counts in the June 2015 attack. His previous criminal history in Minnesota included two convictions for domestic assault, one involving the same woman.

Jurors deliberated for four hours before convicting Lott of the stabbing, which left Corene Barnes seriously injured. During a previous interview with the Star Tribune, Barnes described being brutally attacked while lying in bed at her Burnsville home. She had kicked Lott, the father of one of her four children, out of the house the previous day, and he had returned enraged.

According to the charges, Lott entered the bedroom and told Barnes that no one else could have her before wielding the knife. She was stabbed in the leg and trying to escape as her teenage daughter entered the room and jumped on Lott's back. When he turned the knife on the girl, Barnes intervened and was stabbed again in the stomach.

He tried to stab her again when Barnes grabbed the blade, breaking the handle. Lott fled the apartment on Portland Avenue, then left the state. He was tracked down in Indiana that week and arrested after a brief standoff.

On Friday, District Judge Christopher Lehmann sentenced Lott to nearly two decades in prison. He will receive credit for 275 days served.

The number of domestic abusers and harassers convicted of felonies in Minnesota has risen dramatically over the past decade — from 229 in 2003 to nearly 1,500 in 2013.

Liz Sawyer • 612-673-4648