Kaci Sloan, an Arizona State University student accused of stabbing a fellow student twice in a Glendale classroom last month in an apparent random attack, pleaded not guilty in Maricopa County on Wednesday after two of her four charges were dismissed last week.
Sloan, 19, was first detained and jailed by Maricopa County officials on four counts, including first-degree attempted murder, in connection with the attack on student Mara Daffron. After reviewing the claims and holding a preliminary hearing on September 30, the county attorney’s office charged Sloan with aggravated assault and disorderly conduct.
Judge Ashley Rahaman also set Sloan’s cash bail at $250,000 and specified the conditions of her release if she was able to post bail in full.
Sloan allegedly approached her classmate, Daffron, on September 19 and stabbed her “multiple times,” according to an affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital and citing multiple witnesses.
Matthew McCormick, a student who witnessed the attack in the classroom, acted quickly to halt the alleged stabbing, potentially saving Daffron’s life, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
“In that moment, I didn’t really have a thought going through my head, I just knew that I felt compelled to do something,” McCormick told a news organization.
Approximately 13 witnesses to the crime, including a professor, reported it to police, who wrote in a probable cause document acquired by Fox News Digital that the stabbing happened “without any provocation or any words spoken.”
Police confirmed McCormick’s statement in their report, noting that one of the witnesses “was able to disarm the defendant by pulling the knife away from the defendant’s right hand and threw it away from them.” Another eyewitness then “kicked the knife to the back of the classroom.”
“Another witness described the defendant was sitting in the classroom at a desk and suddenly got up and ran at the victim as the victim entered the classroom and stabbed her multiple times,” according to the statement.
Detectives discovered a handwritten letter inside Sloan’s backpack that reportedly addressed an act she was “about to commit,” but did “not specifically state what she was referring to.”
Sloan reportedly allegedly stated a desire to “hurt somebody” in class that day in an interview with detectives following the incident, targeting Daffron because she was “an easier target” than the other person she apparently considered hitting, whom she referred to as “a veteran.”
Authorities responded promptly to the incident and transported Daffron to a local hospital for treatment.
“ASU Police are still investigating a student stabbing that occurred on campus on September 19. Kaci Sloan was promptly apprehended and jailed on accusations of first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, interference with an educational institution, and disorderly conduct. “She is being held on a $250,000 cash bond,” an ASU representative told Fox News Digital in a statement. “ASU and the entire ASU West Valley community are extremely grieved by what occurred. ASU West Valley is a close-knit community of students, professors, and staff. Counseling services are provided to everyone.”
Sloan has an initial pretrial conference set on November 21.
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