A Utah man accused of killing a woman he met on Tinder — and then calling police to confess — has now been charged with murder.
Ethan Robert Hunsaker, 24, was charged Wednesday with one first-degree felony count in the death of Ashlyn Black. Prosecutors are asking that he be held in jail without bail.
According to court documents, Hunsaker called 911 early Sunday morning to report that he had stabbed someone inside his home near 1300 N. Reid Ave. in Layton.
When officers arrived, they found a woman, later identified as Black, on the floor with multiple cuts to her torso. Responders tried to revive her, but the 25-year-old woman died at the scene.
Hunsaker later told police that he met Black on the dating app Tinder about six hours earlier, and they had met up for the first time Saturday night. He said he picked her up from her house before taking her to a bar. They then went to his home, according to the probable cause statement.
Hunsaker said the date was normal, and there was no argument that led to him trying to choke her to death before he started stabbing her. Court documents state that police later recovered a knife next to Black’s body.
The suspect, according to the charging documents, “stated that he did not know the person he had killed and had met the person on social media.”
He was later booked into Davis County jail.
On Monday, Black’s family issued a statement calling the crime “as senseless as it was evil.”
“A monster has taken away the life of our little girl,” the family wrote. “In just a few senseless and selfish minutes, a life of an amazing, fun loving young woman was taken, one who had a passion for being the voice of those who could not speak out for themselves.”
(Photo courtesy of Layton Police) Ashlyn Black, 25, of Layton. Police in Layton identified Black as the victim in a homicide that took place early Sunday morning, May 24, 2020.
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Editor’s note: Those who are experiencing intimate partner violence, or know someone who is, are urged to call the Utah Domestic Violence Link Line, 1-800-897-LINK (5465), or the Utah Rape and Sexual Assault Crisis Line, 1-888-421-1100. For emergencies, call 911.
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