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FARMINGTON — Nathan Sloop, the man accused of murdering 4-year-old Ethan Stacy, now faces additional charges of attacking a corrections officer at the Davis County Jail.
Sloop, 35, was charged Wednesday in 2nd District Court with aggravated assault by a prisoner, a second-degree felony.
On Nov. 21, Sloop refused to obey an order to return to his cell at the jail. He "struck a deputy twice in the face, attempted to gouge the deputy's eyes out and attempted to bite through the deputy's thumb, causing a deep wound that required multi-layer sutures," according to charging documents.
"Inmate Sloop was able to get (deputy Kirk Silver's) head in a choke hold underneath inmate Sloop's right arm," a sheriff's affidavit states.
Sloop continued to punch the deputy as another tried to pull him off. Sloop then threatened that deputy, saying, "You are next, your turn is coming," according to the affidavit. Police say Sloop later requested a toothbrush, saying, "I still have pieces of his skin in my mouth."
Silver was treated at a local hospital, said Davis County Sheriff's Sgt. Susan Poulsen. He has since returned to work.
The next day, Nov. 22, there was another incident with Sloop at the jail. Sloop made a comment to a deputy in relation to his fight the day before, Poulsen said. For that incident, Sloop was charged in November in Davis County Justice Court with making a threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor.
The Davis County Attorney's Office will likely take that case and combine it with the one it filed Wednesday.
Poulsen noted that Sloop "has created problems in the past" for jail staffers. She said the sheriff "does not have any tolerance for violence against deputies" and has taken measures to ensure there aren't repeat incidents.
Sloop's trial is scheduled to begin in March of 2014 on charges of capital murder, obstructing justice, intentionally inflicting serious injury on a child, and desecration of a dead body.
In 2010, days after he arrived in Utah from Virginia to spend the summer with his mother, Stephanie Sloop, and stepfather, Nathan Sloop, Ethan Stacy was abused and killed. His body was found near Powder Mountain in Weber County in a grave sprinkled with dog food. Prosecutors say Nathan Sloop attempted to burn and disfigure Ethan.
