PUBLIC RELATIONS UNIT

April 14, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact Information: PolicePRUnit@slcgov.com

SLCPD Detectives Arrest Woman for Murder

SALT LAKE CITY — Overnight, Salt Lake City Police homicide detectives, with the assistance of detectives with the Violent Criminal Apprehension Team (VCAT) arrested a 24-year-old woman for murder.

This investigation started at 9:39 p.m. on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, when SLC911 received information about a body near 900 South 400 West.

Responding officers and Salt Lake City Fire Department paramedics located the man and confirmed he was deceased.

SLCPD Homicide Detectives, Crime Lab Technicians, and the medical examiner’s office responded and started a homicide investigation.

The victim is identified as 41-year-old Jonathan Devereaux. The medical examiner’s office determined his death was a homicide.

Detectives believe Devereaux was in a building near 400 West and 900 South when a woman, later identified as Alta Mardell, entered the building while making threats to “handle business”.

Mardell left the building a short time later and told people she stabbed a man inside.

Detectives found Mardell at a residence in Salt Lake City. VCAT detectives safely arrested Mardell.

Mardell was transported to the Salt Lake County Metro Jail and booked on one count of murder.

This is the fifth homicide in Salt Lake City for 2023.

Charges are only allegations, and every arrested person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Salt Lake City Police Department is not the custodian of record for jail booking photos. Utah Code 17-22-30 mostly prohibits the release of jail booking photos. Generally, a jail booking photo can only be released by the custodian of record after a conviction or when law enforcement determines the person is a fugitive or an imminent threat to a person or public safety. In Salt Lake City, the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office is the custodian of record for jail booking photos.

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