MURRAY, Utah, April 23, 2021 (Gephardt Daily) — A fundraising account has been established to help pay funeral costs for a Murray woman who was fatally stabbed Thursday.
The GoFundMe page says the victim, 34-year-old Melissa Wood, was loved.
“Melissa Wood was a beloved daughter, sister, cousin, and friend,” the page says. “She was senselessly murdered last night in Murray, Utah. We are raising money to support her parents as they prepare for her funeral costs.”
Police have arrested a 16-year-old suspect in Wood’s stabbing death. Investigators tell Gephardt Daily that Wood was murdered in the parking lot of an apartment complex at 4439 S. Brick Oven Way early Thursday evening.
Officers were called to the scene at 6:03 p.m. When first responders arrived, they found Wood in extremely critical condition. She was rushed by ambulance to the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray where she died a short while later.
Sources tell Gephardt Daily that Wood had engaged in a verbal confrontation with the teen and others before being stabbed. According to reports, Wood told the teen not to insult another person by using the “N” word.
The teen managed to elude police immediately after the stabbing. Details surrounding his arrest have yet to be made public.
The homicide was the second in less than two days in Murray. The first was the fatal shooting of 39-year-old Darnell Brown near 4500 South Main St. on Wednesday.
Arrested hours later, at a home in Midvale, was 42-year-old Patrick Brown, no relation to the victim, who was taken into custody after a brief standoff involving SWAT, Murray PD and Unified Police.
Police say the shooting was the result of an argument over a car.
To read more about the Wednesday shooting case click here.
Gephardt Daily will have more information on each Murray story as details become available.
