North Dakota teen girl dies after random attack while skateboarding
A 14-year-old North Dakota girl who was skateboarding at a strip mall was killed in a random attack lasting about 20 minutes in which she was choked, beaten and stabbed more than 20 times, according to reports.
Daisy “Jupiter” Paulsen was declared brain-dead Tuesday, four days after she was viciously assaulted in Fargo, and her family is working on donating her organs, local news outlet The Forum reported.
Her alleged assailant, Arthur Prince Kollie, 23, who was initially charged with attempted murder, robbery and aggravated assault, will now be charged with murder, according to a Cass County prosecutor.
Kollie told investigators he used methamphetamine on June 3, the day before the attack, and denied any role in the assault, according to court documents cited by the outlet.
The suspect, who was on probation for a 2017 conviction for assaulting a peace officer, said he was walking in the area where the attack took place but insisted he did “not recall” when asked about it.
Jupiter was skateboarding from her dad Robert’s house to her mom’s place about 7 a.m. Friday when she was attacked, The Forum reported, citing the father and court documents.
The beatdown of about 20 minutes near Party City was caught in part on surveillance video.
A sanitation worker driving in the area saw a man wearing a white T-shirt and black pants leaning or standing over the girl with one hand on her nose and the other on her throat, the documents state.
The worker called 911 and performed CPR on the girl, her mother, Antonia Johnson, told KVLY-TV.
The suspect fled but police later traced him to a Walmart store about a half-mile from the site of the attack. Store security footage showed a person grabbing new clothes, putting them on in a changing room and leaving without paying.
Police found discarded shoes and blood-soaked clothes in the changing room. They later found a man matching the description of the person who stole the clothing and identified him as Kollie.
When told he was under arrest for robbery and attempted murder, Kollie reportedly responded: “Attempted murder, as is she alive? Or what? What does attempted murder mean?”
On May 7, he pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm within city limits, possessing a firearm as a felon and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Kollie was sentenced to 18 months’ supervised probation and 27 days in jail — but court records indicate he had been released after already serving that time in the slammer, The Forum reported.
On Monday, Jupiter’s dad posted an update to an online fundraiser, saying: “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.”
Two days later, the organ donation flag was raised outside Sanford Hospital to honor Jupiter after she was taken off life support, KVLY-TV reported.
Life Source took her remains to ensure she lives on through organ donation.
“It means the world to me that part of her is going to be out in the world saving lives and to be able to share that with somebody, to be able to help somebody, she would have loved that, she would have wanted that. So her wishes are also my wishes,” her mother said, according to the station.
She said that had it not been for the sanitation worker, the family may not have been able to save Jupiter’s organs.
“He gave her some life, we were able to see her right after it happened and talk to her and he gave us a little more time,” Johnson told KVLY.
“She could walk into a room and if you were not feeling good it was, ‘Mom, Mom, Momma, Mom, Mom,’ until I would smile and she would smile and go, ‘I love you,’” she added.
