The Arizona State University student who allegedly stabbed her classmate in a seemingly random attack has had her first-degree attempted murder charge dropped by prosecutors.
Kaci Sloan, 19, was witnessed charging at Mara Daffron when she walked into the Glendale classroom on September 19 before plunging a knife into her “multiple times,” an affidavit obtained by Fox News states.
Matthew McCormick, one of around 13 people who saw the incident, said he took action to save the other student’s life when he realized that she was being attacked.
“In that moment, I didn’t really have a thought going through my head, I just knew that I felt compelled to do something,” he told FOX 10 Phoenix. “As she was going for a third attack, I was able to grab her wrists and apprehend her before further damage could be done.”
Investigators have corroborated McCormick’s statement, saying in a police report 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.”
A different witness then “kicked the knife to the back of the classroom,” police said.
A third witness said that Sloan 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,” the affidavit states.
Police added that the stabbing occurred “without any provocation or any words spoken.”
Daffron was rushed to the hospital, and is reportedly “making great progress and is on the mend,” according to a GoFundMe page created on her behalf.
A handwritten note referencing an unspecified act Sloan was “about to commit” was found in her bag by detectives, and she allegedly admitted to them that she “came to class to hurt somebody and was planning the attack since the night prior.”
Police said the defendant also admitted to targeting Daffron because she was “an easier target” than another potential victim, who Sloan referred to as “a veteran.”
Despite initially being hit with four serious charges, prosecutors dropped two of them — including the count of first-degree attempted murder.
Sloan has since pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and disorderly conduct. Judge Ashley Rahaman set the accused stabber’s cash bail at $250,000, which she has not posted as of Thursday.
In a statement obtained by Fox News, ASU officials said they are “deeply saddened by what happened.”
“ASU West Valley is a close-knit campus of students, faculty and staff. Counseling support is available to all,” the school said.
