Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced that a Third District Court judge sentenced Laura Darlene Northrup to 15 years to life after she pleaded guilty with a mental condition, to the murder of her roommate, Stephanie Lynn Haskett-Carrasco.
On May 26, 2024, fire and police personnel were dispatched to the Medically Vulnerable People (MVP) shelter in Sandy City for assistance with an unresponsive individual. When personnel showed up to the shelter, Ms. Haskett-Carrasco was found hidden underneath her bed. She had significant blunt force trauma to her head and neck. During the search of the room, police found a metal can of Ensure nutrition powder with blood and hair on the bottom of it. There was also a red substance consistent with blood found on the in-room air conditioning unit and door frame.
Ms. Northrup and Ms. Haskett-Carrasco, along with a third individual, were all roommates together at the shelter. It had been previously reported to shelter staff that both the defendant and the victim had a strained relationship, with the third roommate telling police that Ms. Northrup and Ms. Haskett-Carrasco would “bicker” a lot.
On July 22, 2026, the defendant entered a guilty plea with a mental condition plea for one count of murder, a first-degree felony.
On Thursday, October 29, 2026, a Third District Court judge sentenced the defendant to 15 years to life at the Utah State Correctional Facility.
At the sentencing hearing, half the courtroom was filled with Ms. Haskett-Carrasco’s family, including all five of her children. The judge allowed her family to play a slideshow with pictures of Ms. Haskett-Carrasco, with a recording of her grandkids singing playing over it. One of Ms. Haskett-Carrasco’s daughters shared a message about her mother’s relationship with her grandchildren, saying that her favorite thing to do was take them to the arcade, then to the store, and let them pick out their own items. She said her mother’s grandkids meant everything to her, and they adored her.
“The family’s presence at the sentencing was a powerful moment for everyone in the courtroom as they got up one by one, talking about their love for the mother and grandmother they had lost. I hope the family feels they have received some measure of justice in this case. I wish we could have delivered perfect justice in this case, but perfect justice would mean that Ms. Haskett-Carrasco was still with the family that loved her so much. This sentence will ensure that the defendant gets the mental health resources she needs as she is held accountable for the life that she took,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We appreciate our prosecutors, Breanne Miller and Abby Brinkerhoff, our social workers Melissa Foulger and Amy Twede, and our support staff for the years they spent on this case and working with the victim's family. We appreciate the detectives with the Sandy City Police Department for their investigation that made this conviction possible.”