A fourteen-year-old girl was left with fatal injuries after being stabbed 25 times during a horrific attack at a shopping centre.
Daisy “Jupiter” Paulsen died from her injuries on Tuesday, four days after she was also beaten and strangled at the strip mall.
The teenager had reportedly been skateboarding from her father’s to her mother’s house at around 7am on Friday morning when she was attacked and robbed, reports The Sun.
Doctors tried to save her but she suffered catastrophic brain damage from her injuries and was declared dead on Tuesday afternoon, four days on from the attack.
Arthur Prince Kollie, 23, was arrested later that day after a garbage truck driver saw a man fitting his description at the scene, WDAY reports.
Surveillance footage also later showed him stealing clothes from a Walmart to replace his white t-shirt, which was covered in blood.
Kollie has denied involvement, telling police in Fargo, North Dakota, that he has a multiple personality disorder and had not slept since taking methadone on the afternoon before the stabbing.
But he did admit to walking in the area at the time and police officers found fresh cuts to his hands.
Daisy was rushed to the hospital after the attack and underwent surgery for her injuries and was initially said to be stable from the neck down.
But doctors later discovered that the damage caused to her brain when she was strangled was too severe.
(Image: WDAY)
Her father Robert said on a GoFundMe page: “On the morning of June 4th 2021 my daughter was riding her skateboard to her moms home before she had work. She is a victim of a random attack. The person beaten, strangled, and stabbed my daughter 25 times Near party city in Fargo,ND.
“She is currently fighting for her life. She is stable from the neck down. But we are currently monitoring her brain activity since she was deprived oxygen to her brain. The next 72hrs is the most crucial due to the swelling to her brain.”
Later however he tragically updated the post, adding: “We just got word from the Doctor today that our baby girl is too far gone and there isn’t anything they can do. Just to gather family and to say our goodbyes.”
(Image: WDAY)
Court documents state that Kollie apparently stabbed Daisy several times in an attack that lasted over 20 minutes and was partially picked up on surveillance footage from a local store.
Her backpack, phone and wallet were missing when she was found.
The garbage worker witness had been driving by at the time and saw a man in a white t-shirt and black trousers leaning over Paulsen, with one hand on her nose and another on her throat.
The suspect ran from the area but was tracked down to a Walmart store, half a mile away from the stabbing and his bloodied shoes and clothes were found in the changing rooms there.
(Image: WDAY)
Surveillance footage also showed him grabbing new clothes and putting them on without paying.
Kollie, who has no permanent address, made his first court appearance on Monday and was charged with attempted murder, robbery, and aggravated assault.
But Cass County prosecutors have said that his charges might now be upgraded to murder.
After his arrest, Kollie claimed to police that he could “not recall” the incident, but when told of his charges, he reportedly asked: “Attempted murder, as is she alive? Or what? What does attempted murder mean?”
He was was already on probation for a 2017 conviction for simple assault on a peace officer, WDAY reports, and had pleaded guilty in May to discharging a firearm within city limits, possessing a firearm as a felon, and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Kollie was sentenced to eight months supervised probation and 27 days in jail for the December incident but was released immediately having already served his time.
He is currently being held on a $1million cash-only bond.
Daisy’s family now plan to hold two memorials in her honor before her funeral and said that her organs will be donated “to try and save some lives.”