(FOND DU LAC) A Fond du Lac man will spend three decades behind bars for his role in a drug deal that turned deadly during a stabbing last year.
A judge sentenced Dawson Miller to 30 years in prison and 15 years of extended supervision for his role in a February 2024 confrontation that left a young mother dead near Main and Johnson Streets. Prosecutors say Miller helped set up the drug deal and encouraged his girlfriend, Annaka Trudell, to bring knives “just in case” before she met the victim in a parking lot.
Investigators say Trudell and the victim argued beside a pickup truck near Jimmy John’s. The fight escalated, and Trudell stabbed the woman in the arm and chest. The chest wound pierced her lung and heart, according to the autopsy. The victim tried to drive away with her child and a passenger in the car but crashed moments later. Emergency crews rushed her to SSM Health, where she died.
Detectives pieced together what happened from witnesses, surveillance video, and interviews with both Miller and Trudell. The criminal complaint shows Miller admitted he told Trudell to bring something for protection and helped set up the meeting for pills, while Trudell told police the plan was to steal the drugs instead of paying for them. She said she stabbed the victim during the struggle but claimed she “didn’t mean to kill her.”
After the stabbing, the couple fled the scene and ended up at a stranger’s home, where they stayed overnight before getting a ride to West Bend. Police arrested them the next day at a public library. Officers say Miller was carrying the victim’s ID and credit cards when he was taken into custody.
Judge Tricia Walker handed down the sentence after the 23-year-old Miller was convicted of felony murder. Trudell, 22, was convicted of first-degree reckless homicide earlier this year and faces up to 60 years in prison.
