SALT LAKE CITY — The ex-boyfriend of a woman whose body was found stuffed inside a box in his car's trunk will spend the rest of his life in prison after agreeing to a plea deal.
Jacob Holt Johnson pleaded guilty to Aggravated Murder in the 2024 death of Summer Roney. As part of the plea deal, Johnson's sentence will be served without the possibility of parole.
On New Year's Eve 2024, a Bluffdale Police officer found Johnson unconscious in his Jeep parked at a gas station. Another officer later noticed the body of a woman, later identified as Roney, inside a cardboard box in the trunk.
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Roney's body had an extension cord around her neck, with bruises and lacerations to her head, arms and legs. A hammer with blood on it, along with a hatchet, knife, gas can and a bottle of bleach were also found in Johnson's Jeep.
An investigation learned Johnson had killed Roney in Herriman, and after obtaining a search warrant, detectives discovered blood throughout Johnson's home and "apparent signs that someone had attempted to clean up a crime scene," according to the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office.
After Roney's death, her family said she and Johnson were involved in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship, and many of those who knew her said she shared incidents of verbal and physical abuse by Johnson.