This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Kaysville • The man accused of a carjacking and causing a crash that killed a 21-year-old Farmington woman has been charged with murder and robbery.
The crash during Monday's evening commute on Parrish Lane in Kaysville killed Jazmyn Jeppson; the suspect in the car robberies and crash, Anthony Santos Cruz, 27, was injured.
"Because of his utter disregard for public safety and his violent actions, when he was released from the hospital [Friday], Anthony Cruz was arrested by Kaysville police detectives," said their police chief, Sol Oberg.
Cruz was booked into the Davis County Jail. The count of first-degree-felony murder and three counts of first-degree felony aggravated robbery were filed in 2nd District Court in Farmington.
A woman accused of being with Cruz, Michelle Jenifer Vigil, 22, was charged with one count of aggravated robbery, which carries up to life in prison. Information about bail or Cruz and Vigil's first court appearance was not immediately available.
It was about 4:30 p.m. Monday when Kaysville police received a report of a man and a woman carjacking a maroon Mazda 6.
"When that car broke down a few minutes later on the freeway in Centerville, [Cruz] attempted to carjack a second vehicle at knifepoint. That carjacking failed," according to a probable cause statement.
A few minutes later, a Unified officer on his way to work drove up to the apparently stalled Mazda, which was stopped on southbound Interstate 15 near Lund Lane in Centerville. The officer was initially unaware the Mazda was stolen.
A man and a woman, later identified as Cruz and Vigil, were outside of the car when the UPD officer stopped; they told him they had run out of gas. The suspicious officer contacted dispatchers and learned the vehicle had been carjacked moments before.
Vigil allegedly tried to flee on foot as Cruz purportedly ran to a nearby black Volkswagen and, after the driver jumped out, sped away southbound on Interstate 15.
The fatal crash occurred moments later, when Cruz took the Parrish Lane exit, went through the intersection of the offramp and Parrish Lane and struck an eastbound car driven by Jeppson, according to police.
Jeppson "lived life to the fullest," her uncle Jeff Howard said Friday, "and would only want the focus to be on faith, family and on forgiveness."
Howard, speaking on behalf of Jeppson's family, wanted "to reiterate that the family only desires that the healing process occur for all individuals and parties involved with this tragic situation."
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