Travis Alexander was killed on June 4, 2008, in Mesa, Arizona and his killing resulted in the 2013 criminal trial of Jodi Arias, his ex. She is currently charged with shooting and stabbing Alexander.
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Jodi Ann Arias was born on July 9, 1980, in Salinas, California, to William Angelo and Sandy D. (née Allen) Arias. She is of Mexican descent from her father and German and English from her mother. Arias has an older half-sister (from her father’s first marriage), two younger brothers, and a younger sister.
She has testified that both of her parents began physically abusing her after the age of 7 with a wooden spoon and belt as a form of punishment.
Although she attended Yreka Union High School, she did not graduate; she later received her GED in jail while awaiting trial. Arias and Alexander met in September 2006 at a Prepaid Legal Services conference, located in Las Vegas, Nevada. On November 26, 2006, Arias was baptized into the Latter-day Saint faith by Alexander.
As of February 2, 2007, Alexander and Arias were a couple. She then relocated to Mesa, Arizona. Arias alleges that the two broke up on June 29, 2007 due to trust issues but that they continued to maintain a physical relationship after she moved back to Yreka, California in April 2008. She returned to California after her then roommate in Mesa, Arizona married. The roommate did not feel it appropriate that Arias live in her marital home and Arias was unsuccessful in finding new housing arrangements.
Arias was indicted on a first degree murder charge on July 9, 2008 (also her 28th birthday), by a grand jury. On July 15, 2008, Arias was arrested at her grandparents’ home in Yreka, California. She was extradited to Arizona on September 5, 2008, where she entered a not guilty plea on September 11, 2008.
