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WEST VALLEY CITY — Criminal charges were filed Tuesday against a man accused of breaking into a woman's bedroom and viciously attacking her.
On March 5, the West Valley woman, 28, hosted a get-together with several people at her home near 3200 South and 4100 West.
After most of the guests had left, she retired to her room and was talking on her cellphone when Caritino Armenta "kicked in the bedroom door," according to charging documents.
The woman said "help me" into the phone before Armenta, 25, grabbed it and threw it against the wall, the charges state. Armenta, who was armed with a knife, forced the woman to disrobe.
The woman asked him why he was doing this and then pleaded for him "not to kill her, because she has children," according to the charges. After being stabbed several times, the woman told police she stopped resisting and told him "just do what you are going to do," fearing she would be killed if she didn't.
The victim suffered at least nine stab, puncture or slash wounds to her back, chest, neck, fingers and arm, the charges state. One stab wound injured her kidney and the cut on her wrist required two surgeries to repair.
After being attacked and after Armenta left the room, the woman crawled out her bedroom window wearing nothing but a shirt and knocked on several doors, leaving bloody marks on each, before a neighbor answered, let her in and called 911.
When the first officer arrived, he had a hard time determining exactly where the woman was injured because of the "substantial amount of blood covering her body," according to the charges.
The distraught woman kept yelling to the officer, "He is going to kill me" and "Please keep me safe. Am I safe?" the charges state.
West Valley police found Armenta at a residence in Midvale Saturday night and arrested him without incident. Prosecutors have requested a higher than normal bail because of the level of violence of the crime and because Armenta, who is not a U.S. citizen and has family in Mexico, is considered a high flight risk, according to the charges.
Bail was set at $1 million.
Armenta, of Salt Lake City, is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony; aggravated burglary, a first-degree felony; aggravated assault, a second-degree felony; obstructing justice, a second-degree felony; and damaging a phone, a class B misdemeanor.
