“I’m going to keep that promise to my child”; Murder victim’s mother blames legal system for death

(ABC 6 News) – It’s been three weeks since 25-year-old Sabrina Schnoor was murdered and her mother’s grief has now turned into anger, saying that the justice system failed to protect her daughter.

Stacia Schnoor, Sabrina’s mother, says that her world has been turned upside down since her daughter was murdered and left under an I-35 overpass in Owatonna.

She says she made her daughter a promise after she died, and it is one that she intends to keep fighting for.

20 years ago, Stacia brought her two daughters, including Sabrina, to a small, quiet park in Waseca.

“I loved to bring them here because it was peaceful. Sabrina always just ran around in her little pigtails,” Stacia said.

But now, Stacia sits on that park bench alone, fueled with a new purpose.

“I am the only person from my family who went to view her body,” she explained. “I was told not to by many people, but I did anyway. I held my daughter crying and told her I was going to make change. I promised her that things were going to change, that I was going to do what I can to stop this from happening to another girl. I’m going to keep that promise to my child, it was the last promise I was ever able to give her.”

Stacia has collected pages of documents, detailing the lengthy criminal history of the man charged with Sabrina’s murder, her ex-boyfriend Jason Horner, including a domestic assault conviction in 2017.

However, another domestic assault charge, a case where Sabrina claimed that Jason strangled her, was dismissed.

“I have no idea why it was dismissed,” Stacia said. “I definitely want to know.”

That case, happened five years prior to the day that Sabrina would be found dead under the overpass, left in garbage.

“My daughter should still be alive. He should have been taken off the streets long ago. Had those cases not been dismissed, my daughter would still be alive. How many more women has that happened to?” Stacia asked.

Stacia says that the justice system failed to protect her daughter and now her family is struggling to pick up the pieces.

She says her family still misses Sabrina every day.

“She leaves behind a son, a sister, nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, a mother, grandparents that love her so much and just feel lost without her.”

Riddled with grief and fueled with a passion to find justice for Sabrina, Stacia carries what’s left of her in a necklace filled with Sabrina’s ashes. One that she never takes off.

“This is the only way I’ll ever hold my daughter again, and that’s not fair,” Stacia said.

Stacia says the fight to end domestic abuse has only just begun.

Sabrina’s mother wants people to come together, to contact local lawmakers to make changes to the justice system, and get victims in abusive relationships more protection.

After requesting a new judge in his case, Horner is expected back in court for a plea hearing on July 13.