A 28-year-old man in Missouri has been arrested for allegedly killing a 35-year-old pregnant woman and the child she was carrying, as five kids — all of whom were under the age of 10 — watched in horror.

Vanier J. Jones was taken into custody last week and charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of 35-year-old Christina Lynn Rentchler and her unborn child, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Jones is also facing charges of armed criminal action, first-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and unlawful possession of a handgun.

According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department on April 23, 2025, responded to a call regarding a shooting at a residence located in the 4100 block of Farlin Avenue. Upon arriving at the address, first responders said they quickly located the victim, later identified as Rentchler, who appeared to be suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including a single shot “in the back of the head.”

A subsequent autopsy performed by the county medical examiner concluded that the victim was in the second trimester of her pregnancy at the time of her death. The exam further concluded that Rentchler’s death was the direct cause of the death of her unborn baby.

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

The affidavit also included a harrowing detail about the fatal shooting and who was forced to witness the alleged crime take place.

“In the house during the murder were five juveniles Victim 4, Victim 5, Victim 6, Victim 7 and Victim 8,” the affidavit states. “The juveniles’ ages ranged from ages of 2 to 10 years old. Some of these juveniles were [Rentchler’s] children.”

Following the shooting, investigators interviewed the eldest child at the hospital, who they said identified Jones as the shooter, adding that he had recently begun staying at the house with her and her family. The child also provided a brief description of what led to Rentchler’s tragic murder and how the child avoided suffering the same fate.

“She stated the Defendant had gotten angry and shot [Rentchler],” according to the document. “She stated that she then played dead, and heard the Defendant ask Victim 1’s children where their mother was prior to the Defendant killing Victim 1.”

After being taken into custody, Jones allegedly told police that he had nothing to do with Rentchler’s murder, claiming he was with an individual identified in the document as “Witness 1.” However, when police spoke to the witness in a taped interview, they stated that “not only was Witness 1 not with the Defendant when the homicide occurred, but that the Defendant admitted to Witness 1 that he had just killed a woman.”

Further investigation revealed that Jones had previously been convicted of multiple prior felonies and had “absconded from his federal supervised release at the time of the homicide.”

A Connecticut man allegedly beat a woman to death with a baseball bat over $200 in cocaine, then lived with her body in their apartment for a week-and-a-half before he dismembered her, put her torso in a suitcase and rolled it to a nearby cemetery.

Donald Coffel stands accused of murder in the death of 58-year-old Suzanne Wormser in the city of Groton. According to a probable cause arrest affidavit posted to local CBS affiliate WFSB, Groton city police began investigating on March 19 when a passerby smelled a foul odor from a suitcase at the entrance of Colonel Ledyard Cemetery. The caller told cops he had noticed the suitcase near some trash cans and became curious about what was inside. When he walked up to the suitcase, it smelled as if something was rotting inside, so he called police.

More from Law&Crime: ‘Identification took some time’: 70-year-old woman found chopped up in closet, her body parts stowed away in over a dozen trash bags — son in custody, cops say

Cops got on scene and opened the suitcase to find the torso of a woman’s body that was missing the head and other extremities. Police on April 11 posted a press release on its Facebook page about the death along with an FBI tip line. Wormser’s sister called in to say she hadn’t heard from her in months and she didn’t call to wish her a happy birthday, which was unlike her. She gave cops Wormser’s address and detectives went to check out the apartment in the 100 block of Allen Street, which happens to be less than 1,000 feet from the cemetery.

Officers also learned that Coffel had lived with her for a time. Neighbors told cops they hadn’t seen Wormser in months and Coffel was in the hospital. Cops entered the home and it was evident there had been a crime committed, the affidavit said. There was blood on the walls, rugs, furniture and clothing. Investigators also found a baseball bat hidden behind a bookcase. On the bat, there appeared to be dried blood and strands of brown hair matted on it, according to the cops.

Detectives went to the hospital to speak with Coffel, who was receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer. During a noncustodial interview, Coffel explained that he used to be Wormser’s neighbor before he moved to Arizona for a few months to live near his sister. That didn’t work out, so he moved back to Groton. Since he didn’t have anywhere else to live, Wormser allowed him to live with her starting in late November. He told cops Wormser had drug and mental health problems, and he didn’t particularly like her, but he tolerated her since she was allowing him to live in the apartment.

Coffel said he had back surgery in late December and stayed in the hospital before returning home in late January. He said she was there when he came home, but later left. Cops noted in the affidavit he “seemed to settle on the idea of the victim going missing between January and February when he came back from a hospital visit.” Coffel allegedly said he didn’t know where she went and it wasn’t unusual for her to leave for a day or two at a time and return.

A 21-year-old man in Michigan has been arrested for allegedly killing his fiancee, shooting her in the neck and claiming his firearm accidentally discharged while he was cleaning it. Michael Devon Webb was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony in the slaying of 23-year-old Rachel Renee Wooten, authorities announced.

According to a news release from the Oakland Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, 2025, responded to the Highland Township home in the 200 block of Maple Drive, which is about 40 miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan, regarding a reported shooting. Webb and Wooten lived in the home where the shooting is alleged to have occurred with their 6-month-old child.

The caller identified himself as Webb and allegedly told the emergency dispatcher that he “had shot his fiancee and himself,” per the release.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located Wooten, who appeared to be suffering from a gunshot wound to the neck “at very close range,” prosecutors said in a release. She was pronounced dead on the scene. The couple’s child was not harmed during the incident.

Police placed Webb under arrest at the residence. When speaking to police, Webb originally said of the shooting, “it was an accident” that happened “while cleaning his gun,” police wrote. However, the news release said that the evidence recovered from the residence “did not support” an accidental shooting being the cause of Wooten’s death.

A 28-year-old mother and a 31-year-old man were arrested in Michigan in the death of the woman’s 3-year-old son, who investigators say was killed in his home nearly seven years ago.

Amanda Maison and Maurice Houle, her boyfriend at the time of the incident, were taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count each of first-degree murder in the 2018 slaying of young Matthew Maison, authorities announced. Houle is also facing three counts of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer stemming from his alleged conduct during Friday’s arrest.

According to a Friday news release from the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office, Matthew was found dead in his bed inside of the family’s Port Huron Township home on Feb. 18, 2018. While no details surrounding the circumstances of the arrests were provided last week, the sheriff’s office said that the arrests were made following “significant recent developments” in the investigation into the toddler’s death.

During their arraignment hearing on Monday, prosecutors said that Matthew suffered “years of abuse at the hands of both defendants,” per courtroom footage posted by Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV.

“We came to realize of a scheme where both defendants conjured up this lie of previous injuries to the victim in our case, Matthew Maison, and came up with the lie about how the injury occurred prior to talking to investigators,” Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Josh Sparling said Monday, adding that both defendants “admitted” that the other abused Matthew.

Sparling alleged that Matthew was subjected to “very cruel, torturous abuse and punishment” such as “being placed in timeout on his knees where his head would be banged off the drywall” and being “locked in his room for hours on end without food or water.”

“There was a prior time where Maurice place a pillow over this child’s face and pretended like he was playing, but yet we know from the autopsy that Matthew died from blunt force trauma from all of the injuries he sustained as well as suffocation,” Sparling said.

The proceedings then took on an even more depraved tone as the prosecutor relayed another pernicious allegation levied against Maison and Houle.

“Not to mention this plan that was put forth to kill Matthew to make room for a child the two of them could have together,” Sparling said.

The Macomb County Scanner reported that during the duo’s arraignment on Monday, it was revealed that Matthew was likely beaten and choked to death, with investigators determining that his manner of death was a homicide.

“It is my opinion that Matthew Maison died secondary to blunt traumatic injuries with features of asphyxiation,” St. Clair County Medical Examiner Daniel Spitz reportedly wrote in the autopsy report. “The extent, severity, and distribution of the traumatic injuries is indicative of inflicted trauma.”

Prior to Monday’s proceedings, authorities had not released any details about the boy’s death.

The Times Herald reported that on the morning of Feb. 19, 2018, deputies and emergency medical personnel responded to the Maison residence in response to an unresponsive child in the home. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found Matthew inside the home, already dead.

The newspaper in February 2020 submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the 911 call placed in connection with the boy’s death, but was told that the recording system for St. Clair County Central Dispatch automatically deletes recordings after one year.

Amanda Maison’s brother, Andrew Maison, and his wife, Hilery Maison, are currently serving sentences of life in prison without the chance of parole for the 2015 murder of Andrew Maison’s 5-year-old daughter Mackenzie Maison. They were also found guilty of severely abusing his 3-year-old daughter, Makayla Maison.

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

A mother in Minnesota is heading to prison for murdering her 23-month-old son by slamming his head repeatedly into a bedroom wall and then lying to police about what happened, claiming he was run over by his father — who happened to have his car in the shop at the time.

“She took my baby’s life,” said Robert Ortez, father of Aaryan, who was killed by his mom Larena Jackson in August 2023. “I still don’t know, to this day, what really happened because she isn’t saying anything,” Ortez told Valley News Live. “I’m still trying to figure out why she did it. I don’t know why[.]”

A 19-year-old man in Las Vegas is facing charges for a “dangerous” crime spree across multiple jurisdictions last week that included car thefts, high-speed pursuits and the murder of a former Nevada senator’s son — “just hours” after the suspect asked a woman if she “wanted to die,” cops say.

Aerion Warmsley, of North Las Vegas, faces charges of open murder with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon for the shooting death of Na’onche Osborne — the 23-year-old son of former Democratic state Sen. Pat Spearman — last Thursday at the Aliante Casino and Hotel. The North Las Vegas Police Department released details about Warmsley’s alleged crime spree during a video briefing on Saturday night that was broadcast by local CBS affiliate KLAS. He is expected to face additional charges.

A grandmother in Georgia was allegedly killed by a stranger who followed her home and then choked her to death — crushing her neck with his knees and full body weight while she was lying on the ground, according to police and family members, who describe the murder as “horrific” and “mind-blowing.”

Hector David Sagastume Rivas, 21, is accused of murdering 52-year-old Camillia Williams sometime between 11 p.m. on March 12 and 1 a.m. on March 13, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB. Police in Cobb County say Sagastume Rivas strangled Williams and then dumped her body on the side of a road in a yard near her home in Marietta, where it was found last Thursday morning in a place that her family says left them shocked.

“When they found her in the bushes, we looked at the bushes real close and it just so happens to be a Camellia bush.” Camillia’s brother, Arsene Williams, told WSB. “It’s hard to believe that this is really truly happening,” he said. “I don’t know how to absorb it right now.”

According to Arsene and Williams’ family, the Louisiana native called a relative the night before her body was found and said she was being followed by a man who they claim was Sagastume Rivas.

“She didn’t know him,” said Tony Williams, another one of Camillia’s brothers. “The night before she was at the dollar store and she told one of my nieces the guy was following her,” Arsene alleged.

Cops say a motive has not been provided by the suspect yet, but he has admitted to allegedly killing Williams. He told investigators the details about using his knees, claiming he did so after trying to take her life with a chokehold, to no avail.

“I just can’t imagine what someone would have in their heart to do that to somebody,” Williams’ niece, Danielle Williams, told local NBC affiliate WXIA. “What he’d done was really horrific,” she said. “It’s mind-blowing.”

Sagastume Rivas was being held Wednesday on charges of felony murder. He’s been denied bond and is awaiting his next court date.

Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.

A mother in Hawaii is behind bars, along with her girlfriend, for allegedly starving and beating her 3-year-old daughter to death using belts, paddles, sticks and slippers to pound on the toddler — while also limiting her water intake to 8 ounces a day — along with her three of her siblings, ages 2 through 6, who managed to survive the “disturbing” abuse, according to police.

“First responders found Sarai malnourished and pulseless, with ashen skin and bruises to her legs, hips, arms, face, back and head,” explained Honolulu Police Department Lt. Deena Thoemmes at a press conference last Thursday after announcing the arrests of Janae Perez and Ashley Utley for the death of Perez’s daughter, Sarai Perez-Rivera, in June 2024, according to Hawaii News Now.

“Through the investigation, it was learned that Janae and Ashley limited Sarai and her siblings intake of water and food,” Thoemmes said. “Janae and Ashley did not allow them to eat often and only allowed them to drink 8 ounces of water a day.”

A North Carolina man placed a call to 911 not because he was in danger, but to report a murder — that he allegedly committed.

Travis Huff, 40, was arrested on Feb. 19 at a CubeSmart storage facility in Cary, North Carolina. Police reported to the scene after 911 dispatchers got a call about a “murder” at the apartment of Rebecca Carter, 41. Carter was a manager at the CubeSmart and lived in an apartment connected to the facility’s leasing office. The 911 call, which was described in an arrest warrant obtained by WRAL, a local NBC affiliate, had been placed by Huff, her boyfriend of about two years, who allegedly told dispatchers, “There’s been a murder.”

A bedridden 80-year-old in Oregon was killed and stuffed into a suitcase after her house was taken over by squatters, with cops and friends saying they turned it into a “base of operations to commit crimes” — including the woman’s murder and “abuse” of her corpse.

“She didn’t even know who was living there,” said one of Judy Hurley’s only reported acquaintances, Justin Misner, who spoke to local Fox affiliate KPTV about the octogenarian’s death this month at the hands of 54-year-old Michael Moody, who was arrested Thursday and charged with second-degree murder.

“I was disgusted and it’s horrible,” said Misner’s partner, Leslie Ortiz. “Nobody deserves to go that way regardless of your history.”