Jacob Holt Johnson pleaded guilty to aggravated murder in Summer Roney's death and agreed not to contest life without parole.

Thursday was a guilty plea, not a trial and not the sentencing hearing. KSL reported he agreed to life without parole and that the judge imposes it on Dec. 17. FOX 13's wording reads as if that term is already the sentence. The other felonies KSL listed were dismissed in the deal. What he admitted, KSL reported, was strangulation. His lawyers did not admit blunt force.

KSL reported that Jacob Holt Johnson, 42, of Herriman, pleaded guilty Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026, to aggravated murder in the death of Summer Tatiana Roney. KSL reported that when he was asked what he did on Dec. 30, 2024, he said, "I caused the death of Summer." KSL reported that as part of the plea he agreed to be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and that the judge will impose the sentence on Dec. 17. He had been set for a preliminary hearing Thursday and Friday and waived it, KSL reported. KSL reported he admitted causing her death by strangulation with an extension cord, and that the plea followed a prior conviction for aggravated robbery. KSL reported prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty after consulting her family. Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney Dayne Skinner said that in court, KSL reported. KSL reported charges of obstruction of justice, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, and abuse or desecration of a human body were dismissed in the deal.

Where and when she was found is not one sentence across the outlets. KSL reported the charging papers put Roney, 30, in a box in the back of a Jeep, with Johnson unconscious in the driver's seat, at a 7-Eleven at 15871 S. Redwood Road in Bluffdale, and that she was cold, with an extension cord around her neck and bruises and lacerations. FOX 13 reported a Bluffdale officer found him unconscious in his Jeep at a gas station on New Year's Eve 2024, and that another officer found her in a cardboard box in the trunk. ABC4 reported that stop as Dec. 31, 2024. KUTV also reported the box was in the trunk of a white Jeep parked across more than one stall. Dec. 30 is the date KSL said he was asked about, and the date he tied to her death. Dec. 31 and New Year's Eve are the date FOX 13, ABC4 and KUTV gave for the gas-station stop.

FOX 13 and KUTV reported police also found a hammer with blood on it, a hatchet, a knife, a gas can and a bottle of bleach in the Jeep. Both reported detectives concluded she was killed in Herriman. KUTV and FOX 13, citing the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, reported a search of his home found blood throughout the house and "apparent signs that someone had attempted to clean up a crime scene." KUTV reported the office also described a bat on the kitchen floor with smudge marks that made it look recently washed. KSL reported his attorneys specified they did not agree she was killed by blunt force, and that he was admitting only to strangulation. FOX 13 reported her family said the two had an on-again, off-again relationship and that people who knew her described verbal and physical abuse. KUTV reported acquaintances told police the same. Those are the family's and the acquaintances' accounts in the stations' stories.

ABC4 reported District Attorney Sim Gill said, "We appreciate the victim's family working with our office through this process, including meeting with me to talk about this case and how it has affected their family. We share in the heartbreak felt by the family, and offer our compassion and support." KSL reported Roney's sister, Michelle Tischner, was in the courtroom Thursday, and that family members plan to speak at the December sentencing. FOX 13's headline says he will spend the rest of his life in prison after the plea. KSL's account is that he agreed not to contest that term and that the sentence is set for Dec. 17. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.