A Missouri man has been arrested and charged with killing a pregnant woman and her preborn baby in front of her five other children in a St. Louis neighborhood on April 23.
Authorities say Vanier Jones, 28, shot 35-year-old Christina Lynn Rentchler several times, including in the back of the head, killing her and her preborn child. Rentchler was reportedly in her second trimester of pregnancy.
Another woman in the home at the time was also shot, but she “played dead” and was able to survive. Additionally, Rentchler’s five other children, ages two through 10, were in the home at the time and witnessed their mother’s murder.
“It’s painful just knowing that those kids were in the house and had to see all of that,” a neighbor told Fox 2 News.
Jones has been charged with two counts of murder for the crime, along with 17 other charges — including first-degree assault, five counts of endangering the welfare of a child and six counts of armed criminal action, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm.
READ: Man charged with homicide and feticide in murder of pregnant estranged wife
Homicide has become a leading cause of death for pregnant women, exceeding all the leading health-related causes of maternal mortality. Women in the U.S. are more likely to be murdered during pregnancy or soon after childbirth than to die from the three leading obstetric causes of maternal death, according to The BMJ. Fox 2 News reported that it is believed that Jones and Rentchler are related; many instances of homicide during pregnancy have been domestic violence-related.
Though Missouri law recognizes the preborn child as a murder victim, not every state will do so; in Connecticut for example, one woman’s family was disheartened to discover that the state would not recognize the preborn child of their murdered loved one as an additional homicide victim.
Jones was reportedly on parole for second-degree assault when the crime occurred, and is now being held without the possibility of bond.
Editor’s Note: If you are a victim of domestic violence, please visit thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-SAFE.
