A man charged with attempted first-degree murder after a woman was stabbed at an Edina park last summer has been acquitted by reason of mental illness, according to Hennepin County District Court records.
Dimitrius Aurelio Favaro, who was 31 when he was charged and whose address court records list as Richfield, was acquitted on Friday, May 29, court records show. The court entered the disposition, which the register lists as “Acquitted, mental illness,” and issued a hold-for-commitment order the same day. The criminal case is closed, and the court record lists a related case filed under a Hennepin County mental health case number.
Favaro was charged in July 2025 with one count of attempted first-degree premeditated murder after Edina police found the victim with multiple stab wounds in a landscape walkway at Arneson Acres Park on Sunday, July 27, 2025. According to the criminal complaint, Favaro told officers he had planned to kill her and himself, and later told an investigator that he had first tried to choke her before stabbing her in the neck. She underwent surgery for stab wounds to her neck, according to the complaint. The charge was never amended, and the count remained attempted murder at disposition.
A demand for a jury trial was entered in November 2025 and again in February 2026, according to the register. On Thursday, March 26, the court ordered an evaluation for mental illness or cognitive impairment. On Wednesday, May 20, Favaro waived a jury trial and a stipulation was filed. The court issued its findings of fact, conclusions of law and order nine days later.
MN CRIME reported the original charges on July 30, 2025. This story updates that coverage with the outcome of the case.
