Husband charged in fatal Champlin stabbing

The husband of a woman who was fatally stabbed Monday night in Champlin has been charged with second-degree murder.

James Nyonteh, 44, of Champlin was arrested Tuesday in Fargo and charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court in connection with the death of 35-year-old Peachu Yates.

Nyonteh on Wednesday remained in Cass County, N.D., jail, records show.

Police arrived at a residence on Thousand Pines Entry about 9:40 p.m. Monday and a juvenile witness told officers "he killed her," according to the criminal complaint.

Officers found Yates unconscious with no pulse and suffering from lacerations as she lay in the front yard of the residence. Yates was taken to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids where she was pronounced dead, the charges said.

Yates and her children had moved out of the family home and had been staying with other family members at the residence on Thousand Pines Entry where she was killed.

Yates had an order of protection in place, said Champlin Police Chief Ty Schmidt. But a few hours before the killing, police were called when Nyonteh had contacted one of Yates' three daughters who also were covered by the protection order, Schmidt said.

Officers learned Nyonteh was under investigation for a criminal sexual conduct case, the charges said.

Nyonteh showed up at the residence with a knife and told Yates he wanted to talk, according to a witness who was on the phone with Yates at the time. The call was disconnected, so the witness called others living in the home to check on her, the charges said. When they did, they found Yates lying in the yard bleeding and unresponsive.

Another witness at the home heard a scream and saw an SUV heading away from the scene and running a red light as the GMC Acadia turned south on Douglas Drive, the complaint said.

The Acadia belonged to Yates, and police in neighboring Brooklyn Park found the vehicle a few hours later near N. 101st and Winnetka avenues with a bloody knife and hatchet inside, the complaint said.

A tip led police in Fargo to an apartment complex on the 1300 block of 13th Avenue S. where Nyonteh was arrested early Tuesday, said Fargo police spokeswoman Katie Ettish.

Yates' death was the first homicide in Champlin this year. Preliminary findings of an autopsy found she died from multiple sharp-force injuries to her head and chest.