A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the killing of a woman whose naked body was found in a South Salt Lake parking lot.
On Sept. 28, the body of 23-year-old Kaitlyn Barron was found near the corner of 300 West and Ironwood Drive. The San Antonio, Texas, woman had been “severely beaten," investigators wrote. Foul play was “obvious,” wrote police, who also suspect she was raped.
Police obtained footage from a surveillance camera across the street from where Barron was found. It showed a woman and a man who was carrying a skateboard walking toward the area at about 4:28 a.m. on Sept. 27, and then walking out of view — but the camera recorded audio of the woman screaming and saying “either ‘Please don’t hurt me’ or ‘Please don’t rape me,’” investigators wrote.
That’s followed by the sound of “an impact/popping” and screaming, according to a probable cause statement. Police wrote that they believe Barron was “being struck over and over by a large stone that was found at the scene covered in blood.”
The statement goes on to say that the screams stopped after “several minutes, but the impacts continue[d].”
Barron’s clothes, which were found near her body, matched the clothes worn by the woman seen on the video. The man carrying the skateboard is seen on video leaving the area just after 5 a.m. The two are the only people recorded entering or leaving the area where Barron’s body was found, according to the statement.
South Salt Lake police obtained surveillance footage from several other businesses in the area, that tracked the man to the Men’s Homeless Resource Center at 3380 S. 1000 West.
After obtaining a warrant to search the man’s possessions, police found a pair of underwear with blood stains. The man was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County jail on Saturday for investigation of murder, pending formal charges. He’s being held without bail and, according to police, refused to speak with investigators.
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