A judge has thrown out charges of attempted murder against the Arizona college student who nearly killed a classmate in an unprovoked knife attack in front of horrified students.
Kaci Sloan was facing multiple charges after launching herself at Mara Daffron, 19, as the pair arrived for class at ASU’s West Valley campus on September 19.
The ‘bubbly’ student needed emergency surgery for a ruptured spleen and injuries to her chest and arm after Sloan stabbed her twice in a premeditated attack before being hauled off her target by fellow students.
Two counts were dismissed at a court hearing on Monday, leaving Sloan facing the lesser charges of aggravated assault with a prison term of between two and nine years.
‘We are beside ourselves!’ Mara’s devastated mother told Dailymail.com.
‘So the only way there would be justice is if my daughter had actually died?’
Mara Daffron, 19, was repeatedly stabbed as she walked into her ASU class on September 19
Sloan told police she had issues with ‘self-worth’, and singled out Daffron as an ‘easier target’ than the unidentified ‘veteran’ she originally had in mind.
Sloan, 19, has been held at Maricopa County jail since the attack while her victim recovers at home.
Sloan told police she had issues with ‘self-worth’ and had decided to launch her attack the evening before at the $784,000 home she shares with her family in the Glendale gated community less than a mile from the school.
She said she singled out Daffron as an ‘easier target’ than the ‘veteran’ she originally had in mind, and a search of Sloan’s backpack revealed a series of handwritten letters addressed to family and friends, apologizing for what she was ‘about to commit’.
Daffron was equally mystified about a motive as she spoke to police just before going into surgery.
‘I’m just scared because I don’t know why the f*** she would stab me,’ the sports business student said.
Daffron’s mother Launi told Dailymail.com that her daughter did not realize she was being attacked at first because Sloan tripped just over before reaching her.
‘Mara tried to help her up,’ she explained. ‘Then she realized something wasn’t right. She turned around and ran and was stabbed in the back.’
‘She’s way too afraid to go back (to ASU). Her professors are working with her to do online lectures and I hope she will be able to go back next year.
‘She’s still having a little bit of pain, the thing is she’s having nightmares and having to sleep with me.’
Mara with her mother Launi who says she is ‘beside herself’ at the charges being reduced
Kaci Sloan, 19, on her 2022 summer vacation to the French capital with sister MacKenzie
Mara was left with severe injuries to her tricep and spleen which required surgery
She told police she had no idea why she had been stabbed, just before she was rushed into the operating room at Banner Thunderbird Hospital for emergency surgery
Photos on social media show Sloan enjoying a glamorous vacation in France a couple of years ago while she described herself on LinkedIn as a ‘goal-oriented, communicative team player that strives for the highest quality of work possible’.
‘I am a quick learner and extremely observant, which gives me strong skills in organization and acting quickly in a work setting,’ she states.
Pictures posted by her sister Mackenzie show the pair laughing and smiling as they enjoyed a sightseeing trip to France in August 2022.
They posed gleefully for photos together on a river boat, in front of the Eifel Tower and next to Les Invalides.
Sloan had no previous criminal record and witnesses said the attack came ‘without provocation or any words spoken’.
She told investigators she suffered intrusive thoughts about hurting people but ‘felt disgusted’ with them and ‘never made a plan’ until the night before the attack.
Sloan’s LinkedIn profile notes that ASU gave her a $5,000 New American University Dean’s Award scholarship and that she was studying for a BBA in business administration and management.
She is a 2023 alumni of Raymond S Kellis school in Glendale where she claims to have been a member of the marching band, drama club, Black student union, and choir club.
Sloan boasts of her work as a set designer for a school production on her LinkedIn page
A search of Sloan’s backpack revealed a series of handwritten letters addressed to family and friends, apologizing for what she was ‘about to commit’
Sloan appeared to be enjoying the art galleries and landmarks on her trip to Europe
Sloan’s LinkedIn profile notes that ASU gave her a $5,000 New American University Dean’s Award scholarship and that she was studying for a BBA in business administration
‘I am extremely close (sic) and have deep ties with my community,’ she writes.
‘I have been awarded the Arizona Arts Seal of Proficiency in the theatre distinction which required over 80 hours of extracurricular work and activities.’
Prosecutors have yet to determine a motive for the attack which took place in front of more than a dozen witnesses, but Sloan told police she believed it would make her problems ‘go away’.
‘The defendant admitted she came to class to hurt somebody and was planning the attack since the night prior,’ court documents reveal.
‘This planning included placing the knife used in the attack in her backpack to bring to school. The defendant told detectives she knew the victim’s first name but did not know anything else about her.
‘She knew the victim from a prior class and shared a class with her this semester.’
Navy veteran Matthew McCormick saved Daffron’s life after hauling his enraged classmate away before she was able to kill her target.
‘I’ve never seen anything like this and I hope I never do again,’ he told the Arizona State.
‘As she was going for a third attack, I was able to grab her wrists and apprehend her before further damage could be done.
‘I sprung and grabbed her wrist and took her to the ground and immediately disarmed her and then I kind of just held her there until the authorities arrived,’ he added.
Navy veteran Matthew McCormick saved Daffron’s life after hauling his enraged classmate away before she was able to kill her target
Sloan is a 2023 alumni of Raymond S Kellis school in Glendale where she claims to have been a member of the marching band, drama club, Black student union, and choir club.
Mara has undergone two hospital surgeries so far in a bod to repair the physical damage
‘I just knew I needed to do something. I had to act immediately.
‘Really the whole situation was just despicable. You know, it’s predatory to prey upon those who are deemed easier targets. I really have no words.’
Judge Jane McLaughlin told Sloan her attack was ‘analogous to a school shooting and the risk that you pose in the community is extreme,’ when she made her first court appearance.
Her rescuer, who has been hailed a hero, said he hoped to see his injured classmate back in school soon. ‘She’s very vibrant. She’s bubbly and energetic,’ McCormick said. ‘Just an overall great person to be around and I think the world is a better place with her in it.’