Watkins, Minnesota, man sentenced to 32 months for domestic assault

Dale Morin, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.
·3 min read

Mar. 17—LITCHFIELD

— A 27-year-old man from Watkins was sentenced to 32 months in prison for felony domestic assault.

Refugio Muniz III agreed in January to plead guilty to the single charge and was sentenced Feb. 15 in Meeker County District Court. Judge Stephanie Beckman gave him credit for 186 days served.

As part of a plea agreement, three other felony counts in the case were dismissed — second-degree assault, threats of violence and motor vehicle theft — plus one gross misdemeanor count of interference with a 911 call.

In addition, all charges in two other cases were dismissed.

Muniz's sentence is concurrent with another felony domestic assault conviction, for which he was also sentenced to 32 months in prison, in Stearns County.

Muniz has been incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater since Nov. 2, 2022.

Under Minnesota law, convicted offenders must serve at least two-thirds of their sentence in custody and may be allowed to serve the remaining time on supervised release.

According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections website, Muniz's expected release date is May 22, 2024.

According to the criminal complaint, Muniz — first charged as Refujio Kooky Schorn, a known alias — had beaten an adult woman at a residence in Watkins on June 5, 2022.

A Meeker County sheriff's deputy responding to the call learned that Muniz threatened to stab the woman and her dog and that she escaped by climbing out of a window and running to a neighbor's house, the complaint states. Muniz had taken the keys to her vehicle and fled the scene.

Upon arrival, the woman was being treated by an ambulance member. At her request, officers located the dog.

The woman said she and Muniz got into an argument, that he grabbed her by the arms, pushed her down and began punching her in the head, according to the complaint. Muniz also punched and kicked her repeatedly as she curled up to protect her head.

The woman tried leaving, but Muniz blocked the doorway. He then took her phone because she said she was going to call law enforcement.

She was able to temporarily get away from Muniz by locking herself in a bedroom, but Muniz kicked open the door and began assaulting her again, according to the complaint.

Muniz then threatened to stab her and her dog. The woman bit his arm to escape.

Muniz walked to the kitchen and stood next to a knife block and continued to verbally threaten the woman. That's when the woman pushed a screen out of the bedroom window, crawled out and ran to a neighbor's house.

A male witness stated to law enforcement that the woman knocked on his door and pushed her way inside, saying Muniz was going to stab her. He then saw a vehicle leave the woman's residence.

According to the complaint, Muniz has a history of violence-related offenses. Muniz was previously convicted on three felony threats of violence charges in Kandiyohi County from 2017 to 2021.