FARMINGTON — An 18-year-old man accused of stabbing a woman giving him a ride and pushing her out of a moving car onto the freeway was formally charged with murder on Wednesday.
But charging documents don’t give any more answers into how the bizarre killing unfolded.
Oscar Cuevas-Landa, 18, of West Valley City, was charged in 2nd District Court with the first-degree felony in the death of Shilo Marie Stewart, 34, of Fruit Heights.
Stewart was giving Cuevas a ride about 9:50 p.m. Sunday. While headed north on I-15 near Lagoon, Cuevas “believed (Stewart) looked at him wrong. (He) then used a knife he had on his person to stab (Stewart) multiple times,” the charges state.
Cuevas then unbuckled Stewart’s seat belt and pushed her out of the car as it was traveling at freeway speed, according to police. He then guided the car to a stop while still sitting in the passenger seat, the charges state.
Cuevas was arrested a short time later in Farmington. An autopsy determined Stewart died from a combination of being stabbed and blunt force trauma to her head caused by being thrown from the car, according to charging documents.
Police have not answered questions about how the two people came to be in the same car or where they were possibly headed.
A GoFundMe account set up to help pay for Stewart’s funeral described her as a thoughtful person who “always put others before she put herself.” It also described the killing as being committed by ”a ruthless immature violent person” who threw her out of the car “like she was garbage.”
On Facebook, a man who identified himself as Stewart’s brother wrote that she was trying to help Cuevas.
“Shilo was a friend to everyone, she was a beautiful soul and I will miss my sister dearly.”