A 40-year-old man has been charged in connection with the deaths of a mother and her young daughter following a shooting and subsequent house fire in Walnut Park West, as reported yesterday, January 28 by SLMPD.org. After evading law enforcement for over a month, the suspect was apprehended in Poplar Bluff, MO and is now facing charges that include two counts of Murder 1st Degree, two counts of Armed Criminal Action, one count of Arson 1st Degree, and one count of Felon in Possession of a Firearm.
Tragically, the victims in this harrowing event, a 45-year-old female identified as Latasha Brown and her 9-year-old girl named Paige Buckner, succumbed to their injuries shortly after the incident took place on December 21, 2025. Running from the law, the suspect was eventually captured and must now account for the suffering he is accused of inflicting upon Brown and her daughter Buckner.
Officers were first called to the scene of the incident around 12:10 a.m. on the night of December 21, to a house fire located at the 5700 block of Floy. After the fire was extinguished by Fire Department officials, the woman and child were discovered inside the home with gunshot wounds, as detailed in the SLMPD statement. Both were transported to the hospital in critical and unstable condition.
Homicide detectives continue their investigation into the circumstances that led up to the incident, while the SLMPD Bomb & Arson Unit was also called to the scene. The community was touched and responded, anyone with potentially valuable information has been urged to reach out. Tips can be shared with the Homicide Division directly or anonymously through CrimeStoppers, which offers a cash reward for information leading to a felony arrest, as mentioned by SLMPD.org.
