The Utah Highway Patrol is continuing their investigation after a woman was found deceased on I-15 near Farmington. Courtesy: Google
FARMINGTON, Utah — One person is in custody after a woman was found dead on I-15 Sunday night.
Utah Highway Patrol says they received a call and responded to reports of a person lying in the roadway near the HOV lane near 200 West in Farmington around 10 p.m.
When troopers arrived they found a deceased woman described as being in her 20s or 30s. UHP says there was also a suspicious vehicle abandoned in the area.
The woman has been identified as Shilo Marie Stewart, 34, of Fruit Heights.
According to a probable cause statement filed with his arrest, investigators believe the woman was giving a ride to 18-year-old Oscar Cuevas-Landa of West Valley when she was stabbed.
“Based on the current evidence, the suspect [Cuevas] got a ride with a person they did not know. During that journey they [Cuevas] stated that the victim looked at him funny, so he stabbed the victim several times and then pushed the driver from a vehicle moving at freeway speeds,” the statement reads.
Earlier in the statement, police say that witnesses noticed a vehicle “driving erratically in traffic and almost impacting the median. A short time later witnesses stated a person or what appeared to be a body came out of the vehicle on the driver side.” A short time later the vehicle came to a stop.
When police arrived, they found Cuevas near State Street and Main in Farmington, “wearing no shirt and only one shoe.”
Officers said he was found with blood on his hand, forearm and pants. According to the probable cause statement, he told them he was being robbed and had run away.
“The suspect stated he was going to West Valley and she was staring at him so he stabbed her. The suspect also stated that he had been using either acid or LSD and smoking marijuana,” the police affidavit said.
UHP is currently working to identify the woman and notify her family.
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