St. Louis Park Man Accused of Strangling Woman for Refusing Sex

A St. Louis Park man has been charged with strangling a woman after she refused to have sex with him.

Kenneth Elzie Nelson, 45, is charged with domestic assault by strangulation, a felony with a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

St. Louis Park police were called to a home in the 2700 block of Louisiana Court just before 4 a.m. Jan. 1 in response to a 911 hang-up call on which a woman was heard screaming in the background, according to the complaint, signed by St. Louis Park Police Officer Dennis Hagen.

Officers found the woman in the apartment. She told them that Nelson, whom she described as her boyfriend, had strangled her because she refused to have sex with him.

The woman said Nelson put his hands around her throat as she lay on the couch and squeezed, cutting off her breath. Nelson then grabbed her head and bashed it against the side of the couch, telling her that he was going to kill her, according to the complaint.

The victim was bleeding from her mouth while she spoke to officers, and had marks on her neck.

Nelson was arrested, and told officers that he “applied pressure” to the woman’s neck in an effort to control her, but that he may have used “excessive force,” according to the complaint.

Nelson has been released from custody on a $5,000 bond. An omnibus hearing in his case is scheduled Feb. 5 in Hennepin County District Court.