A Rosemount woman has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for stabbing her daughter’s father in the neck during a custody dispute.
Lisa Dawn Oliver, 45, stabbed the man outside his Apple Valley home on Oct. 23, leaving him with a deep wound near his jugular vein, prosecutors said. A Dakota County jury on Feb. 3 convicted Oliver of both first-and second-degree assault, but acquitted her of second-degree attempted murder with intent. She was sentenced Wednesday.
According to the criminal complaint, officers responded just before 9 p.m. and found the man with a neck wound that appeared to be deep and 2½ inches in length. He said “he did not want to die.”
He gave police a statement at the hospital, saying that Oliver dropped their daughter off at his home around 8 p.m. He said the girl wanted to go back to her mom, but he told her she could not.
He said Oliver showed up in a rideshare a short time later. He said he changed his mind and was going to let their daughter go, but Oliver went inside his home “to have an argument with him,” the complaint states. He said he told their daughter to go into the rideshare.
He said Oliver wanted to take their daughter with her and that he told her it was OK that night and “she could not make a habit out of this,” the complaint states. Oliver returned to the rideshare, where their daughter was waiting.
Later, he said, he looked outside through his blinds and saw the rideshare hadn’t left. He said he went out to smoke a cigarette and that Oliver approached him, got in his face and began pushing him. He said she was upset he had complete custody of their daughter.
“Victim said before he knew it, she shoved him and he felt something go across his neck and there was blood gushing from his neck,” the complaint read.
Neighbors told police they heard arguing and that it escalated. One neighbor heard a female voice say, “I am going to kill you. I am going to stab you,” the complaint states.
Oliver’s roommate told police she spoke with Oliver and she admitted to the stabbing and that she also said she hid in a nearby field.
Oliver’s presumptive prison sentence fell between 37 and 51½ months. Her attorney argued for a stayed sentence to probation, telling Dakota County District Judge Michael Mayer on Wednesday that she has been addressing her mental health and chemical health though jail programs.
Mayer denied the request for a dispositional departure and sentenced Oliver to 45 months in prison. She will receive credit for 167 days already served in custody.
