LITCHFIELD — Two people, a man who has been in custody for months in another case and a woman who made her first appearance on Friday, are facing attempted murder charges in an attack on a Litchfield man.
Court documents say the man was assaulted with a double-bladed ax and a baseball bat during a robbery attempt on March 15, 2024.
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Cassidy Marie Lunz, 21, of Willmar, is charged in Meeker County District Court with second-degree attempted murder, aggravated robbery, and two counts of first-degree burglary.
The attempted murder and aggravated robbery charges against Lunz are charged as liability for crimes of another for aiding in the alleged crime.
According to the criminal complaint, two additional suspects — Tre Anthony Ertl, 26, of Litchfield, and another man who has since died in a car accident — went to a house in Litchfield where they assaulted the owner of the home with the ax and the bat in an apparent plan to rob him.
Ertl is awaiting trial in another alleged robbery and assault, one of three people charged with robbing a man of $23,000 before attempting to kill him on June 28, 2024. The man was found in a ditch along the side of a road with a stab wound and had also been hit by a vehicle.
In that case, Ertl is charged with attempted first- and second-degree murder, aggravated robbery in the first degree and first-degree assault. He has been in custody since July at the Meeker County Jail on $4 million bail, or $2 million with conditions.
In the newly filed case, Ertl is scheduled to make his first appearance in March to face five felony charges: second-degree attempted murder; first-degree assault; aggravated robbery; and two counts of first-degree burglary. The assault count is charged as liability for crimes of another.
Lunz was arrested Thursday in Paynesville and made her first court appearance Friday morning in front of Judge Stephanie Beckman. According to online court records, Lunz is being held on $750,000 bail, or $250,000 bail with conditions that include no contact with the victim or his residence. She remained in the Meeker County Jail as of Friday.
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The other man said to have participated in the attack is identified in the filed criminal complaints as Joshua Velez. He died on June 6, 2024. He was a passenger in one of two vehicles involved in a fatal crash on that date, according to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the criminal complaint, Litchfield police responded to a residence in the 300 block of Second Street on March 15, 2024, after being advised an adult male had been violently assaulted with an ax.
Upon arrival, the male exited the residence. Police observed the man was covered in blood and had multiple deep lacerations all over his body, including his head and face. Officers later learned that the man owned the residence but did not live there.
The man told police that he had been assaulted by two adult males and another adult female. According to the complaint, the man did not know their names but stated they had left in a black GMC Yukon. The man was eventually transported to the hospital in Robbinsdale due to the severity of his injuries.
According to the complaint, officers located an aluminum bat and an ax in the home. Both appeared to have blood on them. A brown duffle bag with identifying information on Velez, including a Social Security card, was inside the bag along with “a variety of controlled substances and drug paraphernalia.”
In follow-up interviews, the injured man told law enforcement that a friend, identified in the complaint but not charged, had invited Lunz over to the residence in the early morning hours of March 15, 2024. According to the complaint, she arrived with Velez, who was wearing a white bandanna covering his face and carrying a brown duffle bag.
The man said he and Velez spoke briefly before Velez left. He then locked the door because he was afraid of what Velez might do. According to the complaint, the man said he went back to the living room of the home, where Velez had re-entered the home and confronted him again.
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At this time, Lunz then exited the home as Velez allegedly began using an ax that belonged to the residence to strike the man. Ertl then entered the home and began hitting the man with a baseball bat.
According to the complaint, the man had given both men his wallet in order to avoid being struck again. Both Velez and Ertl demanded the man provide them with drugs. The man said one of the two then stated that they “needed to end this,” as he was making too much noise.
The complaint states Velez then swung the ax at the man’s head, causing the man to suffer deep cuts to his head and hitting his forearm. Velez then let go of the ax and then attempted to choke the man as Ertl continued hitting him with the baseball bat.
At one point the man was eventually able to get up and attempted to flee. He tried exiting through the back door but was unable to turn the door handle due to his injuries. The man then went into a bathroom in the home, and pretended to call 911 to report the assault, causing Velez and Ertl to leave the residence.
Investigators spoke with Lunz on July 3, 2024. According to the complaint, she reported that she had gone to the residence to distract the man so that Velez could steal money from him. She said the man's friend had informed her of the robbery plan and that Ertl had also told her about the plan. However, she said she did not know the two would assault him.
According to the complaint, DNA testing was completed on the bottom wrap of the baseball bat and DNA matched with Lunz.
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