Man Kills His Pregnant Girlfriend, Police Say

Michael J. Collins is charged with killing a Hazelwood woman on Monday.

According to Hazelwood Police Department Capt. James Hudanick, it has strong proof linking Collins to Denitra Jones' death. See: Hazelwood Police Investigating a Homicide at Knollwood Apartments, Person in Custody

Collins, 26, has an address in the 4200 block of Penrose Street listed on his charging documents, but Hudanick said the two lived together in the Knollwood Apartments complex off Howdershell Road in Hazelwood.

Collins was charged Tuesday with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action. He is being held at the St. Louis County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 cash bail.

Hudanick would not say a motive for the murder, but did say Jones was about two-months pregnant with his child. 

"They were in a relationship," he said of Collins and 27 year old Jones, who was found in the bedroom of their apartment in the 5400 block of Forest Creek Drive on Monday, at about 9:45 a.m. 

Jones' mother called police Monday when she couldn't reach her for some time. Hudanick said police went in to check on her and found her body.

Jones recently began a teaching position at a child care center at Washington University-North Campus on Aug. 1. Chancellor Mark Wrighton sent an internal email Tuesday afternoon expressing his condolences to faculty and staff. 

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of this member of our Washington University community," he said in the email. "Please keep Denitra and her family in your thoughts."

Hudanick said there were no previous calls for domestic violence situations on file for Jones in the time she lived in her apartment.