Utah man headed to prison following string of assaults, second chances

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah man was sentenced to serve time in prison Thursday for a domestic violence assault.

Kaden Beckstrom, 23, violently attacked Joni Meikel in July 2023. She was pregnant at the time with their child and later suffered a miscarriage.

Beckstrom faced several felony charges for assaulting Meikel and multiple police officers who responded to arrest him.

Initially, Meikel supported a plea deal designed to allow Beckstrom to get treatment. But she grew concerned as his violent behavior continued, yet he still avoided prison time.

In September 2024, while on probation for abusing Meikel, Beckstrom assaulted a Utah County man in his 60s. The man told sheriff's deputies Beckstrom attacked him outside his home, completely unprovoked. Beckstrom took a plea deal in the case and was sentenced to more probation.

"He attacked me while I was pregnant, to the point where … I thought I was going to die, and they just keep letting him out," Meikel said during an interview with the KSL Investigators in December.

The plea deal in the domestic violence case involving Meikel was structured in a way that gave prosecutors options to come back and ask the court to impose both felony convictions and prison time without going to trial if Beckstrom didn't clean up his act.

Thursday, at a sentencing hearing in the case, Beckstrom's defense attorney argued Beckstrom should get another chance.

"Every metric that they re-look at for risk and recidivism supports reinstatement on probation and another chance, a real chance at treatment," defense attorney Jon Shuman said.

Shuman said his client had spent more than 400 days incarcerated since the assault that he should get credit for. He also said media coverage of the case was "sidetracking" the conversation.

"Let me be clear, I'm not trying to minimize the victim's pain or any difficulties she's had, but these facts we're talking about are two years old now," Shuman said. "And I'm not trying to minimize. I'm just trying to point out that Mr. Beckstrom has made really good steps in the past – since he was booked again in September."

Meikel read a victim impact statement detailing her terrifying memories of the assault that only stopped when police showed up at her door, as well as the psychological and mental impacts of the abuse that she's still experiencing.

"The fact that he's been able to slip by again and again, violating and hurting more people, is just a demonstration as to why Kaden feels he has the right to do what he does to others," Meikel said during the hearing.

Salt Lake County prosecutor Noah Winfree pushed for a prison sentence.

"This is a violent individual with a substance abuse problem who has not been successful on probation thus far with this case," he said. "And you know, I don't have much hope that it'll get better without him serving the prison term."

Winfree brought up additional assault convictions from Beckstrom's juvenile record, which Shuman said was "disgraceful" and "unethical."

"It's time for a wakeup call that you can't just be assaulting all sorts of people, especially when you're on felony probation and not doing what you're supposed to be doing on that," Winfree said.

Beckstrom, when given a chance to address the judge, talked about his difficult childhood upbringing, his mental state, and insurance issues that presented a barrier for receiving treatment in the past.

"I'm hoping you can give me another chance to do a program," he told the judge.

After hearing from both parties, Beckstrom, and Meikel, Judge Linda Jones told Beckstrom she wants him to succeed, but she also wants to keep the public safe. "From my perspective, the only way that will be accomplished is if you continue with the programming and are incarcerated," she said.

She said she couldn't help but notice some "blame shifting" in comments during the hearing, and acknowledged the impact Beckstrom's crimes have had on those he's assaulted.

Jones sentenced Beckstrom to serve zero to five years for each of the two felony counts he's convicted of in the case. She also ordered the sentences to run consecutively and recommended that he receive credit for time served.

"Nothing's ever going to make it OK," Meikel said after court. "But now it's not like it didn't happen anymore. And there's nothing that can explain how amazing that feels."

Meikel said she was grateful the prosecutor was willing to push for Beckstrom to serve a prison sentence. She hopes the outcome will serve as a reminder to others working in the criminal justice system to fight for survivors like her.

"Prosecutors, all of you, try," she said, "because you're employed by the state, but you don't work for the state, you work for the people, you work for the victims."

Have you experienced something you think just isn't right? The KSL Investigators want to help. Submit your tip at investigates@ksl.com or 385-707-6153 so we can get working for you.

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