West Valley man charged with stabbing, attempting to kill his girlfriend

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WEST VALLEY CITY — An arrest warrant has been issued for a West Valley man accused of stabbing his girlfriend multiple times.

Juan Daniel Melendez-Borunda, 27, was charged Wednesday in 3rd District Court with attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and three counts of unlawful distribution of an intimate image, a class A misdemeanor.

On Sunday, Melendez-Borunda and his live-in girlfriend got into an argument. Police were called and the couple were separated. The woman returned home by herself.

Later that night, after the woman had gone to bed, Melendez-Borunda called and asked her to come outside and talk to him. "(The woman) stated that she had a bad feeling about going outside to speak with Melendez-Borunda so she refused," according to the charges.

Melendez-Borunda instead entered the home, near 7100 West and 2600 South, and asked the woman to go around the block with him to pick up one of their cars. She agreed. But once the couple got into the car, Melendez-Borunda locked the doors and threatened her by saying, "'Don't you ever … do that … again, I'm going to kill you.' Melendez-Borunda then retrieved a knife and began repeatedly stabbing (the woman) in the face and neck," the charging documents allege.

The woman attempted to fight back and repeatedly honked the car horn to get the attention of neighbors.

After Melendez-Borunda calmed down, the woman got out of the car and ran to a nearby residence for help. She was eventually taken to a local hospital in critical condition where she was treated for three stab wounds to her cheeks, two to her jaw, one to her arm, one to her chest and "a long and shallow laceration across her neck," the charges state.

As police were investigating the case, they learned Melendez-Borunda had posted intimate images of the woman on social media and sent one explicit photo and a video of the woman to her ex-husband, according to the charges.

Prosecutors say Melendez-Borunda's "actions in this matter are particularly egregious and concerning" and "the victim will likely suffer further domestic abuse or death" if he is not held without bail once he is arrested. Investigators believe Melendez-Borunda may have fled the state.

Anyone with information about Melendez-Borunda is asked to call police at 801-840-4000.

Domestic violence resources

Help for people in abusive relationships can be found by contacting:

• Utah Domestic Violence Coalition: Utah's confidential statewide, 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-897-LINK (5465)
• YWCA Women in Jeopardy program: 801-537-8600
• Utah's statewide child abuse and neglect hotline: 1-855-323-DCFS (3237)
• National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233

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Pat Reavy

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Pat Reavy interned with KSL NewsRadio in 1989 and has been a full-time journalist for either KSL NewsRadio, Deseret News or KSL.com since 1991. For the past 25 years, he has worked primarily the cops and courts beat.