A St. Paul man who repeatedly stabbed a woman in the head, face, side and stomach at a downtown St. Paul homeless shelter is heading to prison.
Ramsey County District Court Judge Thomas Gilligan Wednesday sentenced Tim Davin Dortch to nearly 20 years for the attack, which took place in January of 2017, court records say.
Dortch was convicted of second-degree attempted murder as well as first and second-degree assault following a court trial this past February.
Dortch assaulted the victim at the Dorothy Day Center, stabbing her five times and hitting an artery near her liver. The injuries required emergency surgery but the woman survived.
Witnesses said that they initially thought Dortch was punching the woman and didn’t realize she was being stabbed until later. The incident was prompted by a disagreement between the victim and Dortch’s girlfriend, according to legal documents.
The woman told the judge Thursday that she is still haunted by the attack. She suffers anxiety attacks and is fearful of traveling on public transportation, going shopping or riding on elevators, she wrote in her victim impact statement.
Her face and body are marked by scars and she lives with persistent headaches, she said.
“I don’t even know this man … (For him to) attack me, a total stranger, from behind, with such cruel actions is unimaginable,” she wrote. “I live in constant fear that the defendant will get out of prison and finish me off.”
Dortch’s attorney, public defender Connie Iverson, could not be immediately reached for comment.