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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain woman was charged Tuesday with trying to kill her husband after he went through her phone.
Johanna Elizabeth Mero, 44, is charged in 4th District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child, a third-degree felony.
On Friday, Mero's husband was looking through her phone and accused her of infidelity, according to charging documents. Mero demanded that he give her phone back, but the husband refused.
"(She) then grabbed a kitchen knife and began chasing (her husband) around the house, threatening to kill him," the charges allege.
The husband ran into the garage, but could not close the door all the way. Mero "slashed the knife through a crack in the door trying to stab" her husband, according to the charges. The husband then opened the main garage door and ran out.
"The victim was audio recording this entire event and showed Johanna (he was) recording. Once Johanna saw the victim's phone was actively recording, she went inside their residence," a police booking affidavit states. "Deputies reviewed the phone recording and could hear a disturbance between Johanna and the victim. During this, Johanna threatened to kill the victim several times. … Throughout this incident, Johanna chased the victim, her husband, with a knife while threatening to kill him several times."
Police say the couple's two children, both under the age of 10, were in the house at the time. Prosecutors have requested she be held without bail in the Utah County Jail pending trial.
Domestic violence resources
Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:
- 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
