‘She then played dead’: Child recounted watching pregnant woman killed in front of her, 4 other young kids, police say

A 28-year-old antheral successful Missouri has been arrested for allegedly killing a 35-year-old large woman and the kid she was carrying, arsenic 5 kids — each of whom were nether the property of 10 — watched successful horror.

Vanier J. Jones was taken into custody past week and charged with 2 counts of first-degree murder successful the slayings of 35-year-old Christina Lynn Rentchler and her unborn child, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.

Jones is besides facing charges of equipped transgression action, first-degree assault, endangering the payment of a child, and unlawful possession of a handgun.

According to a probable origin affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department connected April 23, 2025, responded to a telephone regarding a shooting astatine a residence located successful the 4100 artifact of Farlin Avenue. Upon arriving astatine the address, archetypal responders said they rapidly located the victim, aboriginal identified arsenic Rentchler, who appeared to beryllium suffering from aggregate gunshot wounds, including a azygous changeable “in the backmost of the head.”

A consequent autopsy performed by the region aesculapian examiner concluded that the unfortunate was successful the 2nd trimester of her gestation astatine the clip of her death. The exam further concluded that Rentchler’s decease was the nonstop origin of the decease of her unborn baby.

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The affidavit besides included a harrowing item astir the fatal shooting and who was forced to witnesser the alleged transgression instrumentality place.

“In the location during the execution were 5 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 kid astatine the hospital, who they said identified Jones arsenic the shooter, adding that helium had precocious begun staying astatine the location with her and her family. The kid besides provided a little statement of what led to Rentchler’s tragic execution and however the kid avoided suffering the aforesaid fate.

“She stated the Defendant had gotten aggravated and changeable [Rentchler],” according to the document. “She stated that she past played dead, and heard the Defendant inquire Victim 1’s children wherever their parent was anterior to the Defendant sidesplitting Victim 1.”

After being taken into custody, Jones allegedly told constabulary that helium had thing to bash with Rentchler’s murder, claiming helium was with an idiosyncratic identified successful the papers arsenic “Witness 1.” However, erstwhile constabulary spoke to the witnesser successful a taped interview, they stated that “not lone was Witness 1 not with the Defendant erstwhile the homicide occurred, but that the Defendant admitted to Witness 1 that helium had conscionable killed a woman.”

Further probe revealed that Jones had antecedently been convicted of aggregate anterior felonies and had “absconded from his national supervised merchandise astatine the clip of the homicide.”