SPRINGVILLE, UT – A 23-year-old man from Utah was arrested earlier in July after police say he sent a series of threatening text messages to a 28-year-old acquaintance prior to a fatal stabbing incident that occurred outside the victim’s residence.
According to a press release from the Springville Police Department, officers responded to a reported stabbing incident at a Springville residence approximately 3:15 a.m. on July 11th, where they found a 28-year-old victim in critical condition. Despite rushing the victim to an area hospital, he reportedly succumbed to his sustained injuries.
Investigators quickly identified their primary suspect in the fatal stabbing, a 23-year-old man from Bluffdale identified as Jaxson Clift. A probable cause affidavit regarding the case alleges Clift and the victim were familiar with each other, with the two having been involved in an unrelated traffic stop on the evening of July 10th and had been embroiled in a heated back-and-forth text exchange the day leading up to the fatal incident.
In the hour preceding the fatal stabbing, authorities say Clift began texting the victim the details of his personal address, following up with messages reportedly reading “why you scared” and urging the victim to “pull back up” before ultimately texting the victim, “I’ll see you soon,” with later messages depicting photographs of the victim’s driveway.
The victim eventually responded to the received texts, with police alleging he responded with, “That’s [cool],” roughly one minute before the 911 call came in regarding the stabbing incident. Ring doorbell camera footage allegedly corroborated a statement given to police by the victim’s girlfriend, who reportedly told investigators her boyfriend had received a text and walked out the front door only to come back in shortly thereafter bleeding from an apparent stab wound.
Video footage from the aforementioned doorbell camera, as well as footage obtained by a neighbor’s camera, reportedly showed the tires of the vehicles in the victim’s driveway had been slashed prior to the stabbing alongside showing the victim getting into a physical altercation with the suspect.
When police arrived at Clift’s residence, they initially spoke with his roommate who reportedly told officers that Clift had come home at roughly 5:00 a.m. on the morning of the incident looking dirty. Authorities say the roommate told investigators that Clift had instructed him that in the event police were looking for him to tell said officers he wasn’t home.
Upon executing a search warrant and taking Clift into custody, investigators reportedly observed injuries to the suspect’s arms, hands and legs which were consistent with that of a physical altercation. Additionally, blood was also reportedly found on Clift’s shoe. The knife believed to have been used during the fatal incident was not recovered by police, leading investigators to believe the suspect had either discarded or thoroughly cleaned the weapon.
Clift is being held without bond on charges of murder, obstruction of justice, aggravated assault, and criminal mischief.
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