Arizona State College Stabbing
An Arizona State University (ASU) student identified as Mara Daffron was stabbed multiple times inside of an ASU classroom in an apparently random attack by a fellow student on September 19, 2024. Daffron was sent to emergency surgery for stab wounds which reportedly injured her tricep, ribcage, and spleen.
Court documents suggest that Sloan had expressed a desire to "hurt somebody" in class that day, and had been planning the attack since the night before. The victim told police that she didn’t know Sloan; the defendant reportedly told detectives she knew the victim’s first name but did not know anything else about her, and chose to target Daffron because she was "an easier target" than the other potential victim she had considered attacking, who she called "a veteran."
Kaci Lenise-Charlie Sloan, 19, was charged with first-degree attempted murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct with a weapon. According to a statement made by ASU, she is being held in lieu of a $250,000 cash only bond.
Over a dozen witnesses were present during the attack, including a professor, all of whom told police that the stabbing occurred "without any provocation or any words spoken," according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox.
The probable cause affidavit states that, "…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."
Matthew McCormick, a student and Navy Veteran who witnessed the attack, likely saved Daffron's life when he intervened in the stabbing, 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 Fox 10. "As she was going for a third attack, I was able to grab her wrists and apprehend her before further damage could be done.”
His public statements are corroborated by the police report, which says that a witness "was able to disarm the defendant by pulling the knife away from the defendant's right hand and threw it away from them," after which a different witness "kicked the knife to the back of the classroom."
Detectives reportedly found a handwritten note in Sloan’s backpack that referenced plans for the attack, though they were apparently unspecific.
Daffron's neighbors created a GoFundMe to help support her recovery. As of the time this was written, they have raised over $20,000 raised of $30,000 goal. “These funds will go towards anything the family may need," a description for the GoFundMe page says. "We know Mara will come out stronger than ever from this unimaginable attack."
