Margi Lessman drove to her daughter’s Eagan home Tuesday afternoon to take her to the doctor.

When she went inside the townhome, she saw her daughter — who was eight months pregnant — on her bedroom floor, naked and not breathing. Her neck was cut. A blood-soaked white cloth was stuffed in her mouth.

Senicha Marie Lessman, 25, and her unborn son were dead.

On Thursday, prosecutors charged the baby’s father, Vern Jason Mouelle, 23, of Brooklyn Park, with one count of second-degree murder with intent and one count of second-degree murder of an unborn child.

An autopsy by the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office showed that Lessman died of a severed carotid artery or an obstructed airway. The exact cause of death remains under investigation.

“This was a violent attack that has resulted in the senseless and tragic deaths of a young woman and her unborn child,” Dakota County Attorney Jim Backstrom said in a statement.

According to the charges:

Margi Lessman found her daughter at the townhome at 3141 Alden Pond Lane shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday. She pulled the bloody cloth from her daughter’s mouth, checked her pulse and called 911. Eagan police and paramedics tried to revive Senicha Lessman, but were unsuccessful.

Margi Lessman told officers that her daughter was 32 weeks pregnant and that Mouelle was the baby’s father. She said she last spoke to her daughter over the phone earlier in the day, sometime between 11:30 a.m. and noon.

Officers also spoke to a neighbor, who described a sport-utility vehicle that had been parked in the driveway, sometime between 1:20 p.m. and 1:45 p.m. Motor vehicle records showed that a Mazda Tribute matching the description of the one seen by the neighbor was registered to Mouelle’s mother.

Officers found Mouelle and the vehicle at Mouelle’s work, BioLife Plasma Services in Mounds View, and took him into custody.

Inside the vehicle, officers found a Walmart receipt dated Tuesday for a pocket knife and empty packaging for the knife, as well as Lessman’s cellphone, a bloody trash can and bloody women’s clothing.

A bloody pocket knife was found in a dresser drawer in Mouelle’s bedroom at his parents’ home.

At Mouelle’s first court appearance Thursday, bail was set at $2 million without conditions and $1.5 million with conditions. His next court appearance is set for Feb. 9.

Senicha Lessman was from Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria, according to her Facebook page. She attended Burnsville High School, and worked at a Panda Express restaurant and an Old Navy clothing store.

A Facebook post from Jan. 5 shows Lessman smiling wide and holding an ultrasound photo of her unborn son in front of her belly.

“The Day He’s Born Will Be The Greatest Day,” she wrote.

On Wednesday, Margi Lessman released a statement through Eagan police, describing her daughter as a “loving, kind, smart and beautiful young woman who was very excited to be a mother.”

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