Attempted Murder Charges Filed Against Two in Brutal Attack at Litchfield Home

Two people are facing attempted murder charges for an attack that happened at a Litchfield home on March 15th of 2024. Court documents say a man was assaulted that day with a double-bladed ax and a baseball bat during a robbery attempt.

21-year-old Cassidy Marie Lunz of Willmar made her first court appearance Friday in Meeker County District Court and is charged with second-degree attempted murder, aggravated robbery and two counts of first-degree burglary. According to the criminal complaint, 26-year-old Tre Anthony Ertl of Litchfield and another man – who since died in a car accident – went to a house in Litchfield and assaulted the home owner with the ax and the bat in an attempt to rob him.

Ertl is awaiting trial in another alleged robbery and assault – one of three people charged in which a man was stabbed, hit by a car and left on the side of a road south of Litchfield. In the newly filed case, Ertl will make his first court appearance to face 5 felony charges including second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, aggravated robbery and two counts of first-degree burglary. The other man accused in the March 15, 2024 case was Joshua Velez who died in a car accident on June 6, 2024.

According to the criminal complaint, Litchfield Police responded to a residence in the 300 block of 2nd Street on March 15th. The owner of the home exited the house, covered in blood and was transported to the hospital in Robbinsdale. The injured man told law enforcement that a friend invited Lunz to the house and she arrived with Velez, and then Ertl entered the home. Also, according to the complaint, Lunz told investigators that she went to the residence to distract the man so that Velez could steal money from him, and that Ertl also told her about the plan.