Woman Found Fatally Stabbed in Champlin; Husband Arrested in ND
Peachu Yates, 35, identified as the victim of a fatal stabbing in Champlin on Monday, Mar. 28, 2022. Photo from KARE11
A 35-year-old woman was found fatally stabbed in the front yard of a Champlin home Monday night and her husband was arrested several hours later in North Dakota, authorities have confirmed.
Police say Peachu Yates, 35, was found in the front yard of a residence on Thousand Pines Entry around 9:40 p.m. on Monday. She was reported to be covered in blood and unresponsive on the ground.
Officers arrived at the scene and attempted life-saving measures, but Yates was pronounced dead.
A large search ensued in the area, with officers from several agencies assisting and a Minnesota State Patrol aircraft scanning for any sign of a suspect.
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Brooklyn Park officers found the suspect’s vehicle with a bloody knife inside around 11:25 p.m. Monday in the area of 101st Ave. & Winnetka Ave. N., charges said, but the suspect was not located at the time.
Police received information that the woman’s husband—James Nyonteh, 45—may have been headed northwest, to the Fargo area. He was by then considered the main suspect in Yates’ killing.
A SWAT team responded to an apartment complex in south Fargo and officers took Nyonteh into custody around 4:45 a.m. inside without apparent incident.
Nyonteh was arrested and was being held in the Cass County Jail awaiting extradition to Hennepin County. He was formally charged Wednesday with 2nd-degree murder.
Yates and her children had moved out of a different home in Champlin and had been staying with other family members at the residence on Thousand Pines Entry before she was killed. The woman had an order of protection in place, the Star Tribune newspaper reported.
“Thank you to all who have assisted in this response and investigation. Our deepest sympathies go out to the family and friends of the victim,” part of a media release from Champlin PD read.
KARE 11 reported Yates’ killing is the first homicide in Champlin since 2013.
If you or a loved one is or may be at risk of domestic violence, please get help as soon as possible. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or see these Minnesota resources.
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