ST. PETERS, Mo. — Missouri prosecutors have announced the arrest of a man in what they said was the “violent, violent killing” of a pregnant young woman who disappeared on Thanksgiving, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Amethyst Killian, 22, of St. Peters, Mo., was five months pregnant when she was brutally stabbed more than 20 times in the head, neck and abdomen, authorities said Thursday.
Damion Delgado, 27, of O’Fallon, Mo., was arrested on murder charges in the deaths of Killian and her unborn baby, according to St. Charles Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar.
They were strangers, Lohmar said.
“They had made a connection through an online website, exchanged numbers, and communicated throughout the evening. They agreed to meet up and their intention was to have consensual sex,” Lohmar said of Killian and Delgado.
Family members reported Killian missing around 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving. They told police they last saw her walking to a gas station around 1 a.m. Thursday.
Police found the body stashed in brush near her home on Black Friday, Fox 2 St. Louis reported. They were called there after members of Kiillian’s family found her purse and clothing.
Lohmar told a news conference the investigation determined that blood recovered at the scene on a knife, the sidewalk, and a fence belonged to Delgado.
Moreover, the investigation revealed that the last person Killian exchanged texts with was the suspect, he said.
“Unfortunately, the victim and the defendant in this case were engaged in a potentially dangerous situation and ultimately she lost her life,” Lohmar said.
The paper reported that Killian’s boyfriend told police that Killian sometimes engaged in prostitution by advertising online.
Killian’s mother, Stacy Stelzer, said she was grateful detectives had solved the case but still had many unanswered questions.
“I still don’t know how someone can do this to anybody,” she said.
Killian was the mother of a 6-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son, Fox reported.
Police records say Delgado attempted suicide at his home on Monday and was taken to a hospital, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.
Lohmar credited outstanding police work to crack this case. He said more than two dozen investigators worked around the clock.
“It is textbook definition of good police work,” said Lohmar.
Stelzer says she is trying to figure out how to explain to her 6-year-old grandaughter Marley, and one-year-old grandson Hendrix, how their mom died.
