Prosecutors say the victim was stabbed and struck with an ax outside an east Orlando apartment complex.
ORLANDO, Fla. — A judge on Monday ordered 20-year-old Nicholas Lavallee held without bond in a case where investigators say a man was lured to an east Orlando apartment complex and attacked with an ax and a knife late last month. The hearing followed arrests last week of Lavallee and 29-year-old Anne Marie Aksell in connection with the December ambush.
The ruling comes as Orange County detectives and prosecutors outline a plan they say began on social media and ended in a chaotic hallway fight, a sprint through a courtyard, and a hospital stay for the victim. Authorities say the case is in the early court stages, with charges that include robbery with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, and grand theft of a motor vehicle. Two additional attackers have not been identified. Monday’s decision means Lavallee will remain in the Orange County jail while the case moves toward formal filings and future hearings this week.
The attack happened around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 29 at the University Park apartments off Colonial Drive, according to investigators. The victim, identified in court as James Isaacs, told deputies he arrived after messages from Aksell invited him to meet. As Isaacs reached an upper stair landing, a man he recognized as Aksell’s partner appeared with a handgun and told him not to move, Isaacs said. Isaacs ran, but two other men blocked the bottom of the stairs—one with a knife and one with an ax—leading to a struggle that spilled outside. Isaacs said he was stabbed in the back and struck in the head with the blunt side of the ax before he broke free and found help nearby. “It was fight or flight,” Isaacs said in a televised interview, adding he believed he would be killed.
In Monday’s detention hearing, an Orange County sheriff’s detective testified that digital messages and apartment camera footage back up the victim’s account. The detective said the messages showed flirtatious exchanges between Isaacs and Aksell, followed by posts that investigators say angered Lavallee. A detective testified that Lavallee told investigators he “wanted to fight” Isaacs after seeing messages he considered disrespectful. Prosecutors argued the plan went beyond a fistfight, saying Lavallee supplied a firearm and an associate armed with an ax, while other suspects wore ski masks. Assistant State Attorney Ashley Culpepper told the court the couple used deceptive messages to draw Isaacs to the complex, and a judge agreed that no release conditions would ensure public safety.
Deputies said Isaacs’s phone, wallet and keys were taken during the attack, and his vehicle—a Jeep—was later found abandoned in the 9000 block of Nelson Park Circle. A search warrant executed at the couple’s apartment turned up clothing that matched what was seen on surveillance video, along with a loaded handgun in an unlocked safe, according to testimony. Court records show the charges against Lavallee and Aksell include robbery with a firearm, aggravated battery with a firearm, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and grand theft of a motor vehicle. The two unidentified assailants, known only by nicknames in the arrest paperwork, have not been arrested. Investigators say they are reviewing additional footage from doorbell cameras and the complex.
The case has advanced quickly through first appearances and pretrial detention arguments. Judge Cherish Adams granted the state’s request to hold Lavallee without bond, citing danger to the community. A similar hearing for Aksell, whom Lavallee called his wife in court, was set to be taken up Tuesday after a change of counsel delayed her Monday appearance. Prosecutors said they expect to present the matter to a filing decision in the coming days, with formal charges and discovery to follow. Detectives are still working to identify and locate the two other men alleged to have taken part in the attack.
Neighbors at the University Park complex said they heard shouting and saw people running near the stairwell and courtyard the night of the attack. A resident shared that management later told tenants that police had requested any video from door cameras covering the hallway. “It was loud and frightening,” one tenant said, adding that patrol cars and an ambulance remained on scene for hours. Isaacs showed reporters staples in his head and stitches along his arm. “He said something about shooting me,” Isaacs recalled of the gunman, describing the moment he decided to run.
As of Monday evening, Lavallee remained at the Orange County jail without bond. Aksell’s detention hearing was expected Tuesday, and investigators said they were still seeking the two unidentified attackers. The next major milestone is a filing decision and any scheduled arraignments later this month.
Author note: Last updated January 6, 2026.