GILLETTE–A 24-year-old North Dakota woman is facing attempted second-degree murder charges after Campbell County Sheriff investigators said she stabbed a man with a knife in the neck after he refused to pass her the meth pipe as they drove through Campbell County on their way to Las Vegas.
LaShanda Lynne LaFontaine of New Town, North Dakota, made her initial appearance before Judge Paul Phillips in Campbell County Circuit Court Monday.
Speaking very softly with “yes” and “no” answers, LaFontaine told Judge Phillips she understood the alleged crimes for which she’s being charged.
LaFontaine faces one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of felony aggravated assault and battery. If found guilty, she faces up to life in prison plus 10 years, fines of up to $20,000, or both.
She’s currently being held in the Campbell County Detention Center on a $250,000 cash or commercial surety bond.
Stabbed in the neck
LaFontaine had been traveling from North Dakota with three other passengers, including Sonja Mae Fox, Christopher Ezkiel Echola-Linder, and Effren Velazquez-Rodriguez, the driver, who was her alleged victim, in his 2018 Toyota Highlander.
The foursome left North Dakota Thursday evening headed to Las Vegas to have “some fun” because Velazquez-Rodriguez had just gotten paid and offered to pay for the trip for all of them, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in the case.
The group stopped at a McDonald’s for breakfast on Friday morning around 7:30 a.m., after which they reportedly smoked methamphetamine and fentanyl pills, says the affidavit.
As the vehicle traveled east of the Iberlin Ranch airport on Highway 387 headed toward Casper, LaFontaine, who was seated in the right-rear passenger seat, reportedly pulled out a folding knife and stabbed Velazquez-Rodriguez two times in the lower right neck and clavicle area approximately three inches deep.
Echola-Linder, who was seated next to LaFontaine in the back seat, immediately grabbed the knife and threw it on the front passenger floorboard while holding back LaFontaine and holding pressure on Velazquez-Rodriguez’s neck, court documents state.
Velazquez-Rodriguez was able to pull the vehicle over where he switched seats with Fox as she continued driving while calling 911 around 7:45 a.m. A Wyoming Highway Patrol trooper caught up to the vehicle and requested a Life-Flight helicopter to take Velazquez-Rodriguez, where he was transported to a hospital in Casper.
The Natrona County Sheriff’s Office initially took over the investigation until it was determined the 911 call was made from Campbell County.
Velazquez-Rodriguez was later interviewed by deputies through a translator, after he got out of surgery.
Wrong sandwich
Echola-Linder told investigators that LaFontaine had been “acting weird” from the beginning of the trip after being invited, though she seemed fine, he said, until she smoked the methamphetamine and began accusing those in the group of “not being who they said they were,” according to the affidavit.
He further stated that he had no idea where she got the knife from before suddenly opening it and allegedly stabbing Velazquez-Rodriguez in the neck.
When interviewed by investigators, LaFontaine said that she was “bipolar” and heard voices, but could not recall what the voices said or the last time she remembered hearing them, court documents state.
LaFontaine later explained that she was mad at Velazquez-Rodriguez because he had ordered her the “wrong sandwich” at McDonald’s, though she said he had switched the order after she told him about his mistake.
When asked what specifically had made her mad enough to stab Velazquez-Rodriguez, LaFontaine said she was angry because he refused to pass the methamphetamine pipe, according to the affidavit.
“He denied me the bowl,” she reportedly told investigators.
Acting out of ‘stupidity’
During her interview when questioned about the severity of her actions, LaFontaine acknowledged that her actions were “dangerous, reckless and careless” and that she’d acted out of “stupidity,” court documents state.
She wrote Velazquez-Rodriguez an apology letter asking for his forgiveness and saying that her actions were her “biggest regret.”
Jen Kocher can be reached at jen@cowboystatedaily.com.
