Police announced a St. Louis woman was beaten, stomped and stabbed to death and her house was soaked in gasoline while two children were inside the home.
Officers quickly responded to a house in Hazelwood on Sunday after a child notified police that his mother was dead and his father had fled the scene, police said.
Officers found the woman dead inside. The children were taken to a hospital to be examined, police said. Gregory Smith III was taken into custody later Sunday on possible charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.