Inver Grove Heights Man Sentenced To 20 Years In Prison For Attempted Murder In Home Invasion
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 30-year-old Inver Grove Heights man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for attempted murder in connection to a home invasion where a mother and her minor son were assaulted.
On Monday, Judge Tracy Perzel sentenced Semaji Jamal Clemons to 240 months in prison for one count of attempted murder in the second degree and one count of burglary in the first degree. The charge of assault in the first degree was dismissed.
According to the criminal complaint, on July 19, 2020, officers responded to an Inver Grove Heights residence at about 3 p.m. on a report of an assault. Upon arrival, officers heard a woman crying in the back bedroom. They observed blood all over the floor and surrounding area.
As officers approached the back bedroom, a man exited the bedroom -- later identified as Semaji Clemons. Law enforcement noticed the man had blood all over his pants and shoes. They had located an adult woman in the bedroom with several injuries, including puncture wounds in her back and a deep laceration on the front of her neck. Medical personnel arrived to help the woman at the scene.
The woman told police that Clemons entered her home and went into her son's bedroom. She said he grabbed her son by the neck and brought him into the room she was in, then proceeded to assault her and her son. They were punched several times in the head. Her son told police that Clemons repeatedly told them both "you're going to die."
During the assault, the child ran to the neighbor to get help and returned with a box cutter, where he attempted to use that against the intruder. Clemons took the box cutter and used it to inflict the injuries to the woman.
The woman indicated that she had never met Clemons before.