Caregiver charged with attempted murder for stabbing woman at group home

A 24-year-old woman has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly stabbing another woman in the face, back and torso at a group home in Morris, court records show.

Jessica Nazarian, of Shoreview, is charged with intentional second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault causing great bodily harm and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

Just after midnight on Feb. 13, Morris police, University of Minnesota campus police and Stevens County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a group home in the 20000 block of 462nd Avenue. According to a criminal complaint, 911 dispatchers received three calls from a developmentally disabled resident of the group home saying she’d been stabbed in the face and only she and her assailant were there.

When law enforcement arrived, they found smeared blood on the front door and a knife blade and bloody towel on the floor just inside, the complaint states. Nazarian was in the kitchen, leaning on the counter, chin in her hands, with a “thousand-mile stare,” according to officers. The victim was behind her, bleeding extensively and still holding a telephone, starting to pass out.

The victim had lacerations to her face and an “extremely swollen” and “discolored” eye, records show. Her shirt was “soaked” with blood with a visible hole near her abdomen and her hair was matted with blood. Officers handcuffed Nazarian — a personal caregiver at the group home — and began to provide medical aid to the victim. The officers found that the victim had a puncture wound just below the back of her neck and in her abdomen.

Both the victim and Nazarian were taken to the hospital.

At the group home, investigators found a “large” amount of blood in the bathroom, blood on the carpet near the front door, on stair railings and on the kitchen floor and countertops. The knife’s handle was located in a bathroom in the basement, the complaint says.

Aside from needing stitches, the victim suffered two fractured vertebrae, which means she’ll need rehab and a hard brace. She may also be permanently scarred from the stab wounds, the complaint notes.

The next day, investigators learned that Nazarian had stopped the victim from going to bed the night of the incident and said “I’m going to kill you.” The victim ran downstairs as Nazarian grabbed a knife, the complaint says. Nazarian followed her into the bathroom and stabbed her multiple times in the face, as well as in the back and abdomen.

Nazarian was interviewed while in the mental health unit of the hospital. She told police that she’d tried to kill herself and that she’d stabbed the victim.

Charges were filed via warrant against Nazarian on Feb. 15 and she was taken into custody at Traverse County Jail on Feb. 19. Her bail is set at $250,000 and she remains in custody.