A man has been charged with killing Danielle Warren, the mother of his children.

Jason Philip Filas, 48, faces one count of second-degree murder.

As previously reported, police were called to a home in Burnsville on a report of domestic violence. A criminal complaint states that the 911 caller had gotten a call from Warren, her sister, who said that Filas, the father of her children, was there and “freaking out.”

Court documents note that officers were familiar with the home and Filas due to recent calls to report domestic violence.

When they got to the home, officers found blood on the doorknob. When they looked through the back window, they saw Warren unresponsive. Officers forced entry into the home and found her with multiple stab wounds to her face, neck and chest. There was also a 12-inch kitchen knife with blood on it found in a hallway.

Warren was declared deceased at the scene. The Medical Examiner’s Office found she had been stabbed nine times.

Two of Warren’s children, 5 and 9 months, were found in the home.

Warren’s sister said Warren had called her and said she was scared because Filas was monitoring the security on the home and saw another man leave. Warren added that she wanted to bring her kids to her sister’s home because of her fear of Filas.

Shortly after the original call, Warren reportedly called her sister again and pretended she was talking to the police because Filas was in the house with her, her sister said. Warren then started screaming, “He has a knife! Call 911! Call 911!” The call disconnected and Warren’s sister called 911, court documents state.

After calling 911, Warren’s sister said she tried to call Warren again to check on her. Filas answered the phone and said, “She should have never cheated on me. You better call 911.”

Warren’s sister said Filas had been angry with Warren recently and followed her to a store because he believed she was cheating on him.

Burnsville police responded to a domestic assault involving Warren and Filas on March 13. A witness had been on the phone with Warren and heard a struggle and Warren crying. The witness also heard Filas yelling and Warren saying, “Please let go,” court documents state.

Warren told police she was afraid Filas would hurt her.

Prosecutors note that Filas was charged with domestic assault for the March 13 assault and had also recently pleaded guilty to violating the associated domestic abuse no-contact order on April 2. But the DANCO was cancelled April 23 without a reason given in the documentation.

A Lakeville police officer tried to arrest Filas, but Filas made comments such as “shoot me” and “You’re not going to shoot me” before running away. Officers were able to arrest him after deploying their tasers twice.

Advocates working to support survivors and end domestic violence say the intricacies of ‘no-contact orders’ are deep — and that it’s common for survivors to end one due to the difficulties they pose on their daily life, despite the risk of future violence. 

Stacie Burke, community advocacy supervisor with 360 Communities, adds the closer the relationship, the more complicated it gets. 

“If you have kids with the individual, you often need to still have some degree of communication with that individual,” Burke said. “If you have finances tied up together, own a house, things like that.”

Another factor Burke says is that sometimes a no-contact order leads to an increase of violence — she says that’s because the aggressor fears losing the control they have over the survivor. She says, though, even with the challenges, help is always available. 

“[The help will] be able to do safety planning with survivors, make sure that they’re getting connected with the right resources, having conversations about whether an order for protection or some other no contact order is a good and safe option for that person in that situation,” Burke said. 

Criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Jack Rice, says he’s seen a lot of progress with increased training for everyone in the justice system — including judges — to better understand the issue of domestic violence, which he says includes being able to spot warning signs. 

“I can tell you, these are gut-wrenching cases,” said Rice, who’s handled hundreds of cases involving no-contact orders.

“I have almost never, ever seen a judge lift a no-contact order, at a plea, unless the complaining witness, [the] victim, asks that the no-contact order be lifted,” Rice added. 

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