Co-ed Allegedly Stabbed Roommate & 'Best Friend' 40 Times With Butcher Knife

RADFORD CITY, VA — A Radford University student is accused of fatally stabbing her “best friend” 30 to 40 times in an off-campus apartment they shared. In a gruesome twist, the suspect’s last name is “Cutting.”

Police say that Luisa Cutting, 21, attacked her roommate and “best friend” Alexa Cannon, 20, with a butcher knife last Thursday.

At around 7:45 A.M., neighbors called 911 about “screaming” coming from the students’ apartment. A police operator dispatched officers to the scene and reported hearing someone yelling about a knife in the background.

Upon arrival, responders said Cannon lay motionless on the floor with a knife protruding from her mouth, and that Cutting, who was “covered in blood,” approached them. According to the arrest warrant: “The female turned around, placed her hands behind her back, and stated, ‘Arrest me. I killed her.’”

Rescue workers later pronounced Cannon dead at the scene.

Officers took Cutting to a local jail where she was held without bond and charged with second-degree murder. Authorities have not yet suggested any possible motive for the slaying.

The young women’s social-media accounts portray them as close friends with deep affection for one another. An Instagram post by Alexa Cannon showed her looking happy with Cutting, accompanied by the now eye-opening caption: “I met this girl two years ago online and somehow we ended up living across from each other for a year, this summer she was equivalent to my mom in Cancun. And unimaginably she still puts up with me and now we’re living together next year. Love you more Lu and everyone pray that we don’t kill each other this year.”

Radford University president Brian Hemphill said in an official statement: “This is a tragic moment for our campus community and the Radford family. During this difficult time, we ask that you provide support to your fellow Highlanders. The days and months to come will also be difficult as we extend our deepest sympathies, as well as our thoughts and prayers, to the family and loved ones of our student.” The school is also offering grief counseling to students, faculty, and staff members.

Talking to a reporter, Shelton Lewis, a third-year Radford University who knew both women said, “I’m lost for words. I really want know what was the motive behind it because they were best friends since freshmen year, and that was in 2016. Now it's 2019 and this has happened … I thought that we were all going to graduate next year.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Radford City Police Department at (540) 731-3624, or email crimestoppers@radfordva.gov.

Read more: People, Roanoke Times, WDBJ, New York Post