The Arizona student who jumped from her seat to stab a classmate she barely knew lived in a $784,000 home in a gated community and enjoyed European vacations with her family, it has emerged.
Kaci Sloan, 19, has been charged with attempted murder after stabbing Mara Daffron as the pair took an economics class at ASU’s West Valley campus on September 19.
Daffron’s mother Launi told Dailymail.com that her daughter initially did not realize she was being attacked because Sloan stumbled just before reaching her.
“Mara tried to help her up,” she explained. ‘Then she realized something was wrong. She turned around, ran away and was stabbed in the back.”
Photos on social media show Sloan enjoying a glamorous holiday in France a few years ago, describing herself on LinkedIn as a “goal-oriented, communicative team player who strives for the highest possible quality of work.”
“I learn quickly and am extremely observant, which gives me strong skills in organization and acting quickly in a work environment,” she says.
Kaci Sloan, 19, on her summer holiday in 2022 to the French capital with sister MacKenzie
Mara Daffron, 19, was stabbed as she walked into her classroom in Glendale on September 19
Daffron, 19, is recovering at home with her parents after emergency surgery to repair a ruptured spleen and injuries to her chest and arm.
Her mother said Daffron was scheduled to have her first counseling session since the attack on Tuesday afternoon.
“She’s way too scared to go back (to ASU),” she added. Her professors are working with her to teach classes online and I hope she can go back next year.
“She’s still in a bit of pain, the point is she’s having nightmares and has to sleep with me.”
Sloan told police she had “self-esteem” issues and decided to launch her attack the night before while at her home in Glendale, less than a mile from the school.
Sloan told police she picked Daffron as an “easier target” than the unidentified “veteran” she originally had in mind.
And it was Navy veteran Matthew McCormick who saved Daffron’s life after dragging his irate classmate away before she could kill her target.
“I’ve never seen anything like it and I hope I never see it again,” he told Arizona State.
‘When she attacked a third time, I was able to grab her wrists and arrest her before any further damage could be done.
“I jumped up and grabbed her wrist and took her to the ground and immediately disarmed her, and then I just held her there until authorities arrived,” he added.
‘I just knew I had to do something. I had to act immediately.
‘Actually, the whole situation was just despicable. You know, it’s predatory to prey on those who are considered easier targets. I really have no words.’
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.”
Sloan seemed to enjoy the art galleries and sights during her trip to Europe
Mara was left with serious injuries to her triceps and spleen, which required surgery
Mara told police she had no idea why she had been stabbed, moments before she was rushed to the operating room at Banner Thunderbird Hospital for emergency surgery.
Sloan told police she had “self-esteem” issues and called Daffron an “easier target” than the unidentified “veteran” she originally had in mind.
“The defendant admitted that she came to class to hurt someone and that she had been planning the attack the night before,” court documents show.
“This planning included placing the knife used in the attack in her backpack to take to school. The suspect told investigators she knew the victim’s first name but knew nothing else about her.
“She knew the victim from a previous class and shared a class with her this semester.”
In photos posted by her sister Mackenzie, the pair are seen laughing and smiling as they enjoyed a trip to France in August 2022.
They happily posed for photos together on a riverboat, in front of the Eiffel Tower and next to Les Invalides.
Sloan had no previous criminal record and witnesses said the attack occurred “without provocation or spoken words.”
Daffron was equally baffled about a motive when she spoke to police just before she went into surgery.
“I’m just scared because I don’t know why on earth she would stab me,” the sports business student said.
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.”
She told investigators that she suffered from intrusive thoughts about hurting people, but that she was “disgusted” by them and “never made a plan” until the night before the attack.
Sloan’s LinkedIn profile states that ASU gave her a $5,000 New American University Dean’s Award scholarship “based on my academic success,” and that she was studying for a BBA in business administration and management.
She is a 2023 alumnus of Raymond S Kellis School in Glendale and claims to have been a member of the marching band, drama club, black student association and choral club.
The sisters happily posed for photos together on a riverboat, in front of the Eiffel Tower and next to Les Invalides in Paris
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’s LinkedIn profile states 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
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 sorority and choral club.
Marine veteran Matthew McCormick saved Daffron’s life after dragging his irate classmate away before she could kill her target
“I am very close (sic) and have deep ties to my community,” she wrote.
“I received the Arizona Arts Seal of Proficiency for the theater award, which required more than 80 hours of extracurricular work and activities.”
Daffron is making “great progress and on the mend,” back home, according to a GoFundMe set up to help.
Her rescuer, considered a hero, said he hoped to see his injured classmate back at school soon.
‘She’s very lively. She is bubbly and energetic,” McCormick said. “Just a great person to be around and I think the world is a better place with her in it.”
Judge Jane McLaughlin told Sloan her attack was “analogous to a school shooting and the risk you pose in the community is extreme” as she appeared in court for the first time.
Sloan remains in the Maricopa County Jail on $250,000 bond.