Police identify victim in fatal Yankton, SD stabbing

UPDATE

YANKTON, S.D. (KTIV) - The Yankton Police Department has released the identity of the woman that died after being stabbed Monday night.

Police identified the woman as 33-year-old Timber Rose Cournoyer.

The man police believe stabbed Cournoyer, 31-year-old Adrian Lund, has been charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance. He was booked into the Yankton County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

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YANKTON, S.D. (KTIV) - A man is being accused of fatally stabbing a woman in a southeast South Dakota town.

Court documents show 31-year-old Adrian Lund, of Yankton, South Dakota, is charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of a controlled substance.

Authorities say the stabbing was reported at about 11:15 p.m. on Monday, May 22. Officers were sent to a Yankton apartment at 702 Walnut Street where they found 33-year-old Timber Rose Cournoyer with a stab wound to the chest. Cournoyer was sent to a Sioux Falls hospital but died from her injuries Tuesday morning. An autopsy confirmed her death was caused by the stab wound.

While investigating the scene, authorities say they talked to a resident at the apartment who claimed she knew Cournoyer. The resident told officers that she heard Cournoyer yell “Adrian” outside her apartment, and when they opened the door Cournoyer told the resident “he stabbed me.”

Authorities later confirmed Lund and Cournoyer were in a relationship and lived together at a Yankton residence located on 11th Street. After searching that residence, authorities say they found several items with a reddish-brown substance on them. Additionally, authorities say they used surveillance video from several businesses to confirm Lund and Cournoyer were in the area of Walnut Street Monday night.

Lund was taken into custody Tuesday and interviewed by officers. According to court documents, Lund told authorities he was with Cournoyer Monday night but claimed that the two had gone their separate ways at about 11 p.m. in order to avoid an argument.

Court documents note that Lund was not able to tell officers where he was between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m. When pressed about those two hours, Lund asked for his attorney.

Following the interview, a search warrant was conducted on Lund for photos, physical evidence, trace evidence, DNA, blood and urine from his person. Also after the interview, authorities found a jacket abandoned in a creek bed that was allegedly worn by Lund on the night of the stabbing. Authorities say the jacket was located about two blocks from where the victim was found with a stab wound.

Lund’s initial court appearance was held Wednesday morning at the Yankton County Courthouse. His arraignment has been scheduled for June 8 at 2 p.m.

The article above was written before the name of the victim was released. It has been updated to include Timber Cournoyer’s name.

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