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MILLCREEK — A woman in her 70s was taken to a hospital in critical condition after being stabbed multiple times by her grandson early Monday morning, according to police.
The stabbing took place about 6:15 a.m. at 3454 E. Loren Von Circle, according to Unified police detective Kevin Mallory.
Police got a call from 26-year-old Zachary L. Raynor saying he had "stabbed his grandmother to death," Mallory said.
Raynor then explained to dispatchers that he thought his grandmother was a demon, according to a probable cause statement filed Monday in 3rd District Court. He also said he still had the knife in his hand because he wanted officers to “see him with it and hand it to them so they know it was him,” the affidavit stated.
By the time officers arrived, the grandfather had taken her to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to treat several stab wounds; her left ear was severed and nearly detached, her left wrist was detached, and she suffered multiple slash marks and puncture wounds across her face and the front side of her body, according to the probable cause statement.
The woman was in critical but stable condition, Mallory said Monday.
Raynor was booked into Salt Lake County Jail on Monday on investigation of attempted homicide and mayhem, according to police. He was ordered to be held without bail, court documents show.
When officers arrived at the scene, Raynor went outside the house naked with the knife still in hand. After officers ordered him to drop the butcher-style knife, he did so and was then taken into custody, according to the affidavit.
One detective briefly spoke to the grandfather who told them he had been in the kitchen when Raynor came in, grabbed the large knife, walked to the bedroom where the grandmother was in and began yelling “She’s gotta die,” repeatedly, according to the probable cause statement.
While at the hospital, detectives attempted to interview Raynor, who “appeared to be in (a) state of psychosis and made numerous blanket statements about raping and assaulting people, kept speaking to people that were not in the room,” and made sexual advances toward female staff, the affidavit stated.
When police read Raynor his Miranda rights, he said he did not understand them and made inappropriate sexual comments to the woman police officer who read them to him.
Hospital staff gave Raynor medicine to assist his “altered mental state,” the affidavit stated.
Throughout the ordeal, he told police several times he “should be in jail for a long time because of the things he’s done and that he is not safe to be around people,” according to the affidavit.
Raynor has a history of suicide attempts and paranoia, police wrote in the probable cause statement. Police also wrote that he should have a mental health evaluation.
Mallory said Raynor and the grandparents all live in a house together. Police have responded to several calls involving Raynor in the past, Mallory added.
"Domestic violence is a difficult situation to be in, but we want to try and provide as many resources as we can to those who are involved in it and get them out of that situation, out of that cycle," Mallory said.
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition operates a confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic abuse hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465). Resources are also available online: udvc.org.
- Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
- YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
- Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
Contributing: Felicia Martinez and Steven Breinholt, KSL TV
