- Editor’s note: This story contains disturbing and violent details. Reader discretion is advised.
SALT LAKE COUNTY, Utah, June 21, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — A Salt Lake County man has been charged after allegedly attempting to kill his mother, with whom he lived.
Dispatch was alerted to the incident when the victim called 9-1-1, but was unable to speak due to her injuries. Unified police responded, and found the victim in her bedroom, “bleeding from numerous areas of her body, to include her throat being slit,” charging documents say. “She also had blunt force trauma to her head/face area. She was transported to the hospital in possibly fatal condition.”
Officers collected information from neighbors, who said they had heard yelling, then a person talking to himself as he left the house. They also noted that the son’s vehicle was missing.
“The defendant’s mother was listed as critical but stable after her surgery. Family members met with her in her hospital room,” the affidavit says. “She was unable to speak as her trachea and vocal cords had been severed. The family asked her if the defendant had done this to her. She nodded her head up and down to indicate yes.”
Gephardt Daily is withholding the name of the suspect to protect the privacy of the victim.
Attempts to locate the suspect were unsuccessful until his vehicle returned to the residence 24 hours later, charging documents say. The man was arrested without incident, and agreed to be interviewed.
“Post Miranda, the defendant admitted to being at home with his mother yesterday (June 18). He took what he thought was methamphetamine, but his body reacted strangely to it. He became very angry.
“He and his mother began arguing. He was not sure what the argument was over, maybe she was kicking him out of the house. The argument turned physical. At some point his mother fell into the bathtub of their bathroom. He admitted to stomping her face/head area with his shoes while she was in the tub. He got his razor knife, which was in the bathroom, and sliced her with it multiple times.”
His mother crawled to her bedroom and he left the house, the suspect told police.
The suspect was charged on suspicion of:
- Murder (attempted), a first-degree felony
- Two counts of aggravated assault resulting in serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony
He was booked into the Salt Lake County jail and ordered to be held without bail.
