Salt Lake City police investigate woman’s death after she left their custody

SALT LAKE CITY — Four Salt Lake City police officers are under investigation after a woman died in the hospital, days after they detained her.

According to the Salt Lake City police media release, a state medical examiner ruled the death of 40-year-old Megan Joyce Mohn a homicide on Thursday.

On Jan. 11 Mohn was in police custody after an armed security guard for Marathon Petroleum’s Salt Lake City refinery called SLCPD about a woman “walking in circles carrying a piece of rebar in the intersection of 400 West, 900 North” around 3:13 a.m.

A Salt Lake City Police Department officer arrived and learned that Mohn had tried to get into a secure refinery area and accessed the truck exit gate. A truck driver stopped her, and she ran away from the site into the intersection.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., the officer found Mohn with two pieces of rebar in her hand and ordered her to drop them, which she complied and sat on the ground.

However, according to a private security guard on the scene, Mohn began to resist arrest and tried to run while “screaming incoherent language.” At 3:35 a.m., the SLCPD officer had her in custody and called for backup.

According to the media release, while in custody on the grass, Mohn refused to answer the officer’s questions, started to resist them, and kicked an officer “several times.”

SLCPD officers tried to claim down Mohn, but she “kept kicking” and “continued screaming randomly.” Officers used leg restraints on her, and they noticed she stopped moving and yelling.

After realizing the sudden change of behavior, the officers moved Mohn to a “recovery position.” They noticed she was still breathing but unresponsive.

One of the officers performed a sternum rub, which attempts to force a reaction or response to unconscious people with pain, but Mohn was still unresponsive. After that, another SLCPD officer tried to wake up Mohn with a dose of naloxone, a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses, but she remained unresponsive.

Around 3:52 a.m., officers removed Mohn’s restraints, checked for breathing, and performed CPR until Salt Lake City Fire Department arrived.

Both agencies rotated with performing CPR until Gold Cross arrived and transported her to Salt Lake Regional Hospital in critical condition at an unknown time, according to the media release.

Several hours later, hospital staff told SLCPD that Mohn was improving and her condition was considered to be non-life threatening. Because of her alleged crimes, police did not see any reason to require guard duty and left the hospital to prepare charges with the district attorney’s office.

Officers found methamphetamine, spice and alcohol on Mohn’s person during the investigation.

Today, we announced the activation of the officer-involved-critical-incident protocol to conduct a death investigation following a January 11, 2022 incident involving our officers and a 40-year-old woman.

Press release: https://t.co/0anBxZZt2m#slc #slcpd #saltlakecity pic.twitter.com/SBNxBDKznO

— Salt Lake City Police (@slcpd) July 30, 2022

On Feb. 9, SLCPD learned that Mohn had died.

According to the media release, hospital staff moved Mohn to the ICU on Jan. 28, and she died on Jan. 30. Hospital staff did not provide police with any details or medical updates about her during this time.

After learning of Mohn’s death, the SLCPD contacted the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, which advised this incident didn’t require the officer-involved-critical-incident team and waited for the medical examiner’s findings.

According to the medical examiner, Mohn’s cause of death was “anoxic brain injury due to cardiac arrest due to probable methamphetamine intoxication in the setting of an altercation involving physical restraint.”

On Friday, SLCPD launched OICI protocol and the four SLCPD officers are on paid leave as investigators look into this incident.

“Police officers make incredibly important and difficult decisions at lightning speed and under incredible stress and volatility. These decisions are heavily scrutinized,” SLCPD Chief Mike Brown said in a release.

“Our officers acted appropriately, quickly and professionally to save Ms. Mohn’s life. We welcome and respect the officer-involved-critical-incident protocol. We have confidence this will be a fair and judicious process guided by the rule of law and grounded in evidence.”

Police said that body-camera footage would be released soon. SLCPD expressed condolences to the family of Mohn.