The third person charged in the case involving the stabbing of a Moose Lake man last August accepted a plea agreement this morning.
On Tuesday - the day her trial was set to begin - Daisy Nell Hopson-Johnson pleaded guilty to first degree felony assault and had charges of first degree burglary and two counts of second degree assault with a dangerous weapon dismissed.
"She pled to the most severe charge," said Carlton County Attorney Thom Pertler.
Hopson-Johnson, 50, was arrested last September for conspiring to have Steven Ross Chatelaine assault her neighbor.
Chatelaine, of Cloquet, was sentenced in February to six years in prison for stabbing Steven Erlitz last August at the Carroll Inn in Moose Lake. The 20-year-old Chatelaine also pleaded guilty to first degree felony assault in January as part of a plea agreement and had two counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of assault and one count of first-degree burglary dismissed.
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During his January court appearance, Chatelaine said he had met Hopson-Johnson on several occasions prior to the stabbing and that she had talked of problems between herself and Erlitz.
Chatelaine did not know the victim, but said he had an "understanding" with Hopson-Johnson that for an unnamed sum of cash, he would "come down [to Moose Lake] and see what could be done [about the situation.]"
On Aug. 21, Chatelaine said 27-year-old Jessi Marie Lees drove him and Hopson-Johnson to Moose Lake from the Cloquet area.
After arriving at the Carroll Inn while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs, Chatelaine broke into Erlitz's apartment and began stabbing him repeatedly. Erlitz wrestled his way outside where numerous witnesses, including Hopson-Johnson, allegedly saw them. At that point, Chatelaine ran down the stairs to the vehicle driven by Lees. The two drove away and were later stopped and arrested near Barnum.
Chatelaine admitted he assaulted Erlitz - resulting in injuries causing permanent scarring - and that he did not have permission to be in Erlitz's apartment that night.
Lees, 27, was sentenced in December to 165 days in jail, of which 55 days were suspended. Lees served the remaining 110 days and was released after sentencing. She pleaded guilty in November to one felony charge of aiding an offender to avoid arrest and had two counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of assault and one count of first-degree burglary dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Hopson-Johnson will be sentenced in the next two weeks. Check back for a firm sentencing date.
