Missouri man charged with three murders in deaths of woman and preborn twins

A Missouri man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder after police say he killed a woman who was pregnant with twins.

Darryl K. Tyson Jr., 39, was indicted in the deaths of BreAnna Johnson, 28, and her two preborn children. Police in Wentzville, Missouri say Johnson was four months pregnant with her twins when Tyson, who was their father, shot her in their home on October 31. Johnson also leaves behind a 17-month-old and a six-month-old, both of whom were in the home at the time of her death.

According to reports, Tyson had a long history of domestic violence abuse against Johnson. In January 2023, she visited a domestic violence shelter, which documented lacerations and bruises all over her body and eyes swollen shut; Johnson told workers Tyson had given her the injuries.

Police arrested Tyson at the scene of the crime and were able to hold him on a domestic violence charge that had occurred just a day earlier until they gathered enough evidence to charge him with the murders.

“Based on evidence we were able to immediately issue the Domestic Assault charges that occurred earlier in the day and requested a high bond for him to be held on,” the office of Prosecuting Attorney Joe McCulloch said. “This allowed us time to review the evidence which consisted of verbal statements, video, and audio recordings for his claim of self-defense and having the Grand Jury returning an indictment on the murders.”

Homicide is one of the leading causes of death for pregnant women, and many of these deaths are domestic violence situations. Though Johnson had sought help from a domestic violence shelter called JADASA St. Louis, its CEO Dr. Cynthia Bennett said Tyson had too great a hold on her.

“It was a dark day because she was a beautiful young girl. We just tried to help her. She just felt like he had a grip on her,” Bennett told First Alert 4.

JADASA and Johnson’s family are now working together to try and pass a law that would create a registry of repeat domestic violence offenders.

Missouri law states, “Effective January 1, 1988, the laws of this state shall be interpreted and construed to acknowledge on behalf of the unborn child at every stage of development, all the rights, privileges, and immunities available to other persons, citizens, and residents of this state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and decisional interpretations thereof by the United States Supreme Court and specific provisions to the contrary in the statutes and constitution of this state.” Courts have determined that a preborn child is a person for the purposes of the state’s homicide and assault laws when the preborn child’s mother has been killed or assaulted by another person.

If you are a victim of domestic violence, please contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline, or call 1-800-799-SAFE.

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