A judge has dismissed attempted murder charges against the Arizona student who nearly killed a classmate with an unprovoked knife attack in front of horrified students.
Kaci Sloan was facing multiple charges after lunging at 19-year-old Mara Daffron as the pair arrived for classes at ASU’s West Valley campus on Sept. 19.
The ‘bubbly’ student needed emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen and injuries to her chest and arm after Sloan stabbed her twice in a premeditated attack before her classmates carried her away from their target.
Two charges were dismissed at a court hearing Monday, leaving Sloan facing lesser charges of aggravated assault with a prison sentence of between two and nine years.
‘We’re beside ourselves!’ Mara’s devastated mother told Dailymail.com.
‘So the only way there would be justice is if my daughter had really died?’
Mara Daffron, 19, was stabbed repeatedly as she entered her ASU class on September 19.
Sloan told police he had issues with “self-esteem” and singled out Daffron as an “easier target” than the unidentified “veteran” he originally had in mind.
Sloan, 19, has been held in the Maricopa County Jail since the attack while her victim recovers at home.
Sloan told police he was having trouble with his “self-esteem” and had decided to launch his attack the night before at the $784,000 home he shares with his family in the gated community of Glendale, less than a mile from the school. .
He said he had singled out Daffron as an “easier target” than the “veteran” he originally had in mind, and a search of Sloan’s backpack revealed a series of handwritten letters addressed to family and friends, apologizing for what he had done. was “about to commit.” ‘.
Daffron was equally baffled about the motive when she spoke to police just before going into surgery.
“I’m just scared because I don’t know why the hell he would stab me,” the sports business student said.
Daffron’s mother, Launi, told Dailymail.com that her daughter didn’t realize she was being attacked at first because Sloan tripped just before reaching her.
“Mara tried to help her up,” he explained. “Then he realized something wasn’t right. She turned around, ran and was stabbed in the back.
‘He’s too afraid to go back (to ASU). Her professors are working with her to give lectures online and I hope she can return next year.
“It still hurts a little, what happens is that he has nightmares and has to sleep with me.”
Mara with her mother Launi, who says she is “beside herself” over the reduction of charges
Kaci Sloan, 19, on her 2022 summer vacation in the French capital with her sister MacKenzie
Mara was left with serious injuries to her triceps and spleen that required surgery.
She told police she had no idea why she had been stabbed, just before she was rushed to the operating room at Banner Thunderbird Hospital for emergency surgery.
Photos on social media show Sloan enjoying a glamorous vacation in France a couple of years ago, while describing herself on LinkedIn as a “communicative, goal-oriented team player who strives for the highest quality of work possible.” .
“I am a quick learner and extremely observant, which gives me strong organizational skills and quick action in a work environment,” she says.
Photos posted by her sister Mackenzie show the couple laughing and smiling while enjoying a sightseeing trip to France in August 2022.
They happily posed for photos together on a river boat, in front of the Eifel Tower and next to Les Invalides.
Sloan had no criminal record and witnesses said the attack came “without provocation or any word.”
She told investigators that she suffered intrusive thoughts about hurting people, but that she “felt disgusted” with them and “never made a plan” until the night before the attack.
Sloan’s LinkedIn profile notes that ASU awarded him a $5,000 New American University Dean’s Award scholarship and that he was pursuing a BBA in business administration and management.
She is a class of 2023 at Raymond S Kellis School in Glendale, where she claims to have been a member of the marching band, drama club, black student union, and choir club.
Sloan brags about her work as a set designer for a school production on her LinkedIn page
A search of Sloan’s backpack revealed a series of handwritten letters addressed to family and friends, apologizing for what he was “about to commit.”
Sloan seemed to be enjoying the art galleries and landmarks on his trip to Europe.
Sloan’s LinkedIn profile notes that ASU awarded him a $5,000 New American University Dean’s Award scholarship and that he was pursuing a BBA in business administration.
“I am extremely close (sic) and have deep ties to my community,” she writes.
“I have been awarded the Arizona Seal of Proficiency in the Arts in the theater distinction that required over 80 hours of work and extracurricular activities.”
Prosecutors have yet to determine a motive for the attack that took place in front of more than a dozen witnesses, but Sloan told police he believed it would make his problems “go away.”
“The defendant admitted that she came to class to hurt someone and that she had been planning the attack since the night before,” court documents reveal.
‘This planning included placing the knife used in the attack in his backpack to take to school. The defendant told detectives that she knew the victim’s first name but did not know anything else about her.
“She knew the victim from a previous class and shared a class with her this semester.”
Navy veteran Matthew McCormick saved Daffron’s life after taking his angry classmate away before she could kill her target.
“I’ve never seen anything like it and I hope I never see it again,” he told Arizona State.
‘When she was going to make a third attack, I was able to grab her wrists and stop her before she could cause any more damage.
“I jumped up, grabbed her by the wrist, threw her to the ground and immediately disarmed her and then held her there until the authorities arrived,” he added.
Navy veteran Matthew McCormick saved Daffron’s life after taking his enraged classmate away before she could kill her target.
Sloan is a class of 2023 at Raymond S Kellis School in Glendale, where she claims to have been a member of the marching band, drama club, black student union and choir club.
Mara has so far undergone two hospital surgeries to repair the physical damage.
‘I just knew I needed to do something. I had to act immediately.
‘Really the whole situation was just despicable. You know, it’s predatory to take advantage of those who consider themselves easier targets. “I really have no words.”
Judge Jane McLaughlin told Sloan his attack was “analogous to a school shooting and the risk it poses to the community is extreme” when he made his first court appearance.
His rescuer, who has been hailed as a hero, said he hoped to see his injured classmate back at school soon. ‘She is very vibrant. She’s happy and energetic,” McCormick said. “She’s just a great person to be around and I think the world is a better place with her in it.”