Inset left to right: Anne Aksell and Nicholas Lavallee (Orange County Sheriff”s Office). Background: An apartment complex where the couple allegedly ambushed a victim for a robbery in Orlando, Fla. (Google Maps).
A Florida man and woman are behind bars over their roles in an ax-wielding ambush at an apartment complex earlier this week, according to Sunshine State law enforcement.
Nicholas Lavallee, 20, and Anne Aksell, 29, stand accused of one count each of robbery with a firearm, grand theft of a motor vehicle, battery in the first degree, and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, Orange County court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
The underlying incident occurred on Monday at an apartment complex on Emily Loop in Orlando, according to arrest affidavits.
The defendants allegedly worked with at least two other men to rob and beat the victim – who ultimately escaped to a nearby apartment complex amid the harrowing attack when he came across a woman walking her dog who called 911, according to the charging documents.
The victim told deputies he began following Aksell on Instagram roughly a year ago and finally began messaging her sometime in the past two weeks, the affidavit says. The direct messages stopped, on the victim’s end at least, when a man “started messaging him through her account, identifying himself as her boyfriend and telling him to stay away.” Then, the boyfriend – identified as Lavallee – began messaging the victim through his own account and the two men “came to an understanding” about the messages, the affidavit says.
But the messages did not stop.
On Dec. 29, someone using Aksell’s account allegedly “messaged the victim stating she had broken up with her boyfriend and invited him to her apartment,” according to the charging documents.
The victim then drove over to the address provided around 11:30 p.m., authorities say, planning to meet up with Aksell.
“He stated she came down the stairs of the building dressed in lingerie,” the charging documents read. “He followed her up the stairs and as they were about to get to the third floor, he heard a voice telling him not to move and holding out a gun. [The victim]Â looked up and saw a white male, who he recognized.”
The man he recognized was Lavallee, the sheriff’s office said.
The charging documents recount what allegedly happened next:
The victim ran back down the stairs but there were two males, a white male and a black male, waiting for him at the bottom. One was holding an axe and the other was holding a knife. The victim recalled the boyfriend yelling out for “Eli” to stop him and that the white male suspect reacted to that. He stated someone grabbed him and put him in a chokehold as the other suspects began to hit him. He stated someone went into his pockets and took his iPhone 16, wallet, and keys. [The victim] remembered hearing “Fawn” in the background, calling him a “b—”. The victim was eventually able to get free and started running, yelling for help.
But help did not come, not yet anyway.
“He stated the two male suspects who were waiting for him chased him,” the affidavit goes on. “The victim slowed down and realized the two slowed down also. So, the victim stopped and asked them what they were going to do. The suspect holding the axe hit him in the head with the blunt end and the victim fell onto the ground. He stated he thought he was going to die so [he] started running again.”
After that, the victim scaled a fence to find the aforementioned woman, her dog, and, ultimately, safety, the sheriff’s office said.
“The suspects took his wallet, cell phone, and keys to the Jeep he drove there in,” the affidavit continues. “The victim sustained a stab wound to his upper right back and a contusion to the back of his head.”
Investigators then obtained surveillance footage from the apartment complex leasing office that aligned with the victim’s version of events, authorities said. That footage contradicted a narrative provided by Aksell in which she claimed Lavallee wanted to beat the victim up for “grabbing on her.”
“When I pointed out that her timeline did not make sense, she finally admitted she and Nicholas invited him over with the intention of beating him up,” a deputy wrote in the charging documents.
Authorities also say they recovered the lingerie seen in the footage from a closet in Lavallee’s apartment unit – which is located at the same address where the victim was enticed to meet Aksell.
Later, Lavallee admitted he was upset because he believed the victim “was making fun of him and disrespecting his wife,” the sheriff’s office said. The man allegedly went on to say “this p— him off and he wanted to blow off some steam and teach this guy a lesson.”
The man also said he recruited “two guys he knew from the neighborhood, whom he identified only as ‘Eli’ and ‘J3’…to come as backup in case he lost the fight,” according to the charging documents.
“Nicholas was adamant it was his plan to fight the victim only and it was his idea and not Anne’s,” the affidavit goes on. “Anne stated she was a decoy in this incident. She stated it was Nicholas who wanted to fight the victim. He was upset and wanted to blow off some steam.”
The charging documents for each defendant are substantially similar. In various sections of the affidavits, the terms “boyfriend,” “husband,” and “wife” are used to describe their relationship.
Aksell and Lavallee are being detained in the Orange County Jail without bond. They are slated to appear in court on Jan. 5.
