A Sierra Vista woman initially charged in August with aggravated assault after stabbing her fiancé in bed will now stand trial for attempted second degree murder following news that the victim’s medical condition has worsened.
Mandalynn Kalise Hegedus is accused of using a kitchen knife to repeatedly stab Alex-Jon Neitring during an Aug. 22 argument in the apartment they shared near Fort Huachuca. She has remained in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail since the incident.
Hegedus, 24, was set to go on trial Jan. 7 on two counts of aggravated assault related to injuries Neitring, also 24, sustained during the attack. However, Judge Laura Cardinal vacated that trial date Friday after a county grand jury recently added an attempted second-degree murder charge and another count of aggravated assault.
The additional charges stem from updated medical reports which show Neitring’s kidneys were irreversibly damaged as a result of the attack, and that the young man will require lifetime dialysis. A new trial date will be announced by the judge on Feb. 21.
According to court records, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office and Sierra Vista Police Department responded to a 911 call shortly after 3 a.m. from a woman who hung up after asking for help. Once on-scene, deputies followed screams until they came upon Neitring on the floor covered in blood.
Hegedus was sitting about three feet away with blood on her hands, CCSO Deputy Dave Norton wrote in his probable cause statement. There were also blood drops visible from the bed across the apartment to the door, he noted.
A neighbor told deputies that he heard the couple yelling the night before, and that around 3 a.m. he heard “banging and screaming” from their apartment. The neighbor went to intercede only to find Neitring by the door just before officers arrived.
When interviewed, Hegedus confirmed the two had fought hours earlier which caused her to leave the apartment. She returned shortly before 3 a.m. to check on Neitring, who she said had previously become “suicidal” when they fight, Norton noted.
Hegedus told deputies that Neitring then “went crazy” so she sat on top of him on the bed in an attempt to calm him down. She later got up and walked to the kitchen where she obtained a knife before returning to the bed.
Hegedus told deputies she then stabbed Neitring out of fear he would grab one of his guns in the apartment and “shoot her brains out.” However, the report also notes she knew her fiancé had not gotten off the bed until she stabbed him.
Norton’s report notes Neitring was transported to Canyon Vista Medical Center and then airlifted to UMC Banner. Social media comments posted by the young man’s family indicate he remained hospitalized for several days, and that his injuries led to sepsis and pneumonia.