Fargo girl viciously attacked by stranger for 25 minutes is 'fighting for her life'
A 14-year-old girl is fighting for her life following a brutal assault by an apparent stranger outside a Fargo strip mall.
Jupiter Paulsen was found unconscious, bloodied and beaten at 4340 13th Ave. S, shortly before 7 a.m. on Friday, according to the Fargo Police Department. First responders took her to a local hospital, where she has been ever since.
Her father, Robert Paulsen, said on a Go Fund Me page that Jupiter was riding a skateboard to her mother's house when she was viciously attacked. The teen was beaten and strangled, and stabbed 25 times, he wrote.
While Jupiter was initially hospitalized in stable condition, she has since deteriorated, with her father saying doctors were closely monitoring her brain activity after it went without oxygen for a long period of time.
In a brief, recent update, he wrote: "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... This is a very dark moment in our lives. Thank you all for the prayers, shares, and donations.."
The afternoon of the attack, police arrested a 23-year-old suspect in the attack. On Monday that suspect, Arthur Prince Kollie, was charged in Cass County, North Dakota, with attempted murder, robbery with a firearm, and aggravated assault, according to online court records. All are felonies.
According to the criminal complaint:
Shortly after the assault, Kollie was captured on surveillance footage at a nearby Walmart walking into a fitting room with apparel, then coming out wearing new clothing. Investigators later found blood-stained clothing in the room.
Kollie was then located near downtown Fargo, still wearing the new clothing.
He told police he was living at a local emergency shelter, and said he suffers from anxiety, depression and multiple personality disorder. He also told investigators he'd done methamphetamine the afternoon of June 3 and hadn't slept since.
He admitted to walking in the area of the assault, but when asked about the attack, repeatedly said he "didn't recall." Kollie didn't admit to harming the teen.
When told he was being arrested for attempted murder, he said, "Attempted murder, as is she alive? Or what? What does attempted murder mean?"
Video from a nearby business shows Kollie assaulting Jupiter for about 25 minutes, according to the complaint. She had to be intubated and required surgery.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 14.
Police are still searching for a handful of items that belong to Jupiter, including a burgundy backpack, a wallet with a weave pattern, and a black iPhone in a black case. The department has asked anyone in the area near where the attack occurred to keep an eye out for the items.
