A man unknown to an Inver Grove Heights woman entered her home on Friday afternoon and immediately proceeded to assault her young son and then tried to murder her, according to details in a criminal complaint released by the Dakota County Attorney’s Office.
The complaint reveals gruesome details observed as police arrived at the scene of a reported assault in progress. The suspect, subsequently identified as Semaji Jamal Clemons, had sliced the throat of the woman with a box cutter, stabbed her in the back and told her she was “going to die.” Prior to attacking the woman, Clemons had grabbed the boy by the throat and told him it was “time to die,” the complaint said.
Clemons, 29, has a history of convictions for violent crimes with at least five felony convictions since 2010 including two convictions for aiding/abetting first-degree aggravated robbery, two convictions for terroristic threats and a conviction for second-degree burglary, all spanning three different counties.
Most recently, Clemons was sentenced in 2017 on two different cases – burglary and terroristic threats – in two different counties, but the sentences of 45 months and 30 months were ordered to be served concurrently. That was also the case in Clemons’ other three prior felony convictions in three different counties.
Clemons had been incarcerated in 2011 on a prior robbery conviction when he was charged with a 2008 drug store armed robbery in which DNA was used to identify Clemons and two others. Upon conviction for the 2008 drug store robbery, Clemons’ new sentence of 58 months was ordered to be served concurrently with the prior robbery for which he was already incarcerated. Clemons was also subsequently convicted on terroristic threats in another case, and that 21-month sentence was ordered to be served concurrently with any other sentence being served.
Clemons is charged with second-degree attempted murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree assault, and is being held on $1M bail in Dakota County Jail. Clemons is scheduled to make his next court appearance on August 15.
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Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
