SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, April 14, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have arrested a 24-year-old woman accused of murdering a homeless man Tuesday night in Salt Lake City’s Ballpark neighborhood.
Jonathan Devereaux, 41, was found dead in the entrance to an abandoned building at 401 W. 900 South when officers responded about 9:40 p.m., Salt Lake City police said. Devereaux, who was homeless and had been camping inside the building, had “critical wounds” on his body, according to a probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court.
Alta Tresa Mardell was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County jail early Friday for investigation of murder, a first-degree felony.
Witnesses told police Mardell was seen entering the building through the front door and then exiting a short time later, the police affidavit states. Mardell told a witness “she had been assaulted” by a man inside the building, her arrest documents state.
“Multiple witnesses stated that Mardell had a knife on her person and made statements that she was going back into the building to ‘handle business’ and ‘gonna go merk this fool,'” the statement continues.
After entering and leaving the building a second time, police say the suspect told a witness she had stabbed Devereaux with a knife. Mardell was arrested early Friday at a residence in Salt Lake City.
Police recovered a knife and pants — both with blood stains — during their investigation, arrest documents state.
Police say Mardell has a long history of violent criminal behavior, including carjacking and aggravated assaults with deadly weapons. A judge ordered Mardell to be held without bail.
This is the fifth homicide of 2023 in Salt Lake City, police said.
