Police said Slater stabbed his wife who is the child's mother before he took his daughter, KESQ reported. Family members told KESQ that the woman is six months pregnant with the couple's second child. About half an hour later, Slater's car went off a highway and overturned.
Originally it was reported that the child, whose name was Madalyn, was thrown from the crash, KESQ reported.
But police said when a person tried to help get the little girl from the car's wreckage, police said Slater stabbed the man and ran with the child. He then threw her into a ravine, the Desert Sun reported.
KNTV reported Slater also slashed and killed Madalyn before he threw her over the cliff.
He ran from police but was eventually caught.
Neither his wife nor the bystander who were both stabbed had life-threatening injuries.
Slater is a registered sex offender stemming from a 1995 conviction. He served about two years behind bars before he was released in 1997.
He is now charged with first-degree murder with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a knife in the commission of a murder and committing a murder during a kidnapping. That makes him eligible for the death penalty if the District Attorney decides to seek that sentence, KNTV reported.
About the Author