FARGO – A West Fargo man is charged with attempted murder after allegedly trying to kill with a tomahawk a neighbor he had been stalking.
Kokouvi Mawuena Afidegnon, 30, was charged Monday in Cass County District Court with one count of Class AA attempted murder, two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of aggravated assault, all C felonies, one count of A misdemeanor criminal mischief and one count of B misdemeanor simple assault.
According to documents filed with the charges, West Fargo police were called Friday at about 5:33 p.m. to a disturbance report at 245 8th Ave. W. in West Fargo of a woman screaming after having been hit in the head with a hatchet or hammer.
At the scene, police found a frantic crowd in front of the apartment buildings there.
The victim, Prisca Fagnon, was there as well, holding a rag to her head injuries and whose head and coat were covered in blood.
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One of the officers pointed out a tomahawk lodged in the south side of the building’s wall.
A neighbor, John Williams, told police he had seen Fagnon leave her apartment, then heard screaming and saw Afidegnon on top of her hitting her in the head with the tomahawk.
He and other neighbors ran to get Afidegnon off of her, after which Williams and the victim ran into Williams’ apartment, locking the door.
He heard a crash, he told police, and saw the tomahawk sticking in the wall of his apartment, narrowly missing them both.
Fagnon told police she did not know Afidegnon, but that he had been stalking her and she had planned to move out within the next couple of days because he was “creeping her out,” she said.
Police had allegedly been called to escort Fagnon to her car the previous day because of the stalking, court documents say.
