The husband of a mother found stabbed to death outside of a Champlin home this week is now charged with murder.
45-year-old James Nyonteh was charged in Hennepin County District Court via warrant Wednesday with second-degree murder. Nyonteh is accused of fatally stabbing his wife, 35-year-old Peachu Yates, Monday night, then fleeing to Fargo where he was arrested the following day.
Yates had three children. She and Nyonteh were wed last August, according to social media posts.
First responders found her not breathing and with no pulse, in a front yard on Thousand Pines Entry in Champlin Monday night. A girl at the scene was screaming that “he killed her!” according to charges. Yates was taken to Mercy Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The medical examiner determined she had multiple stab wounds to her upper body.
One witness told investigators they’d been on the phone with Yates just prior to the stabbing, and that Yates said her husband had a knife. The witness heard Nyonteh remark he wanted to talk, according to the complaint, and then the call cut out. The witness contacted others at the home and told them to check on Yates — whom they found bleeding in the yard, the charges allege.
Another witness said they heard a scream and turned to see someone in an SUV speeding off, running a red light in the process, according to the complaint.
Officers learned Nyonteh may have gone to Fargo, so put out a request to locate the SUV in question. It was found in Brooklyn Park, and “in plain view” inside the vehicle there was blood, a bloody knife and a hatchet, the charges allege.
Nyonteh remains in Cass County, North Dakota, jail as of Friday afternoon, according to online records. The charges say he was being investigated for criminal sexual conduct at the time Yates was killed, with she and the children having gone to live with family for the time-being.
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