Aurelio Fortuna Molina (Image courtesy Renville County Attorney’s Office.)

The Renville County Attorney’s Office announced Friday that on Thursday, March 3, 2023, following a one-day jury trial, a Renville County jury found a Clara City man guilty of Misdemeanor Domestic Assault. Renville County Attorney Kelsie Kingstrom prosecuted the case.

Aurelio Fortuna Molina, age 41 of Clara City, MN, was found guilty based on his actions that took place in Jan. 2022.

According to the criminal complaint and testimony at trial, Fortuna Molina was residing with Victim in a residence as roommates in Renville County when an argument broke out over music volume. Victim testified that he had asked Fortuna Molina to turn down the music, and Fortuna Molina took a cutting knife that he was using to eat food with and stabbed it into the table centimeters in front of where Victim was standing. Fortuna Molina also stabbed the knife into the table with such force that he sustained a laceration to his hand when his hand slipped from the knife handle.

Fortuna Molina will be sentenced on April 18, at 1:00 p.m. at the Renville County Courthouse.

County Attorney Kingstrom stated, “Domestic assault generally involving married spouses or intimate partners, but it also covers roommate relationships, or those who have been roommates in the past. No one needs to be physically harmed for a domestic assault to occur- simply committing an act which places another in fear of immediate bodily harm is also domestic assault. I continue to encourage Renville County residents to contact law enforcement if these incidents occur within their own homes.”