HASTINGS — A prosecutor has notified the court that she will seek harsher sentences for two people accused of killing a University of Minnesota student if they are convicted.

Minnesota law requires prosecutors to give advance notice if they plan to seek an aggravated sentence. Authorities said 22-year-old Anarae Schunk was stabbed nearly two dozen times last fall in a Rosemount town house and her body dumped along a rural road.

Her ex-boyfriend, Shavelle Chavez-Nelson and his girlfriend, Ashley Conrade, are charged with first- and second-degree murder. Neither has gone to trial yet.

Assistant Dakota County Attorney Kathryn Keena cited the brutal nature of Schunk’s death in seeking a tougher sentence. If the two are convicted, jurors would decide whether there are aggravating factors.