A St. Louis mother headed out to buy diapers in 2022 and never made it home. More than four years later, two men are facing murder, kidnapping and robbery charges in a case investigators say began with a crash and ended in a shooting described in court documents as a “frenzied execution.”
According to First Alert 4, Daisa Allen, 25, was driving near Riverview and Chain of Rocks on March 30, 2022, when her car collided with another vehicle. Charging documents allege that Kristian Haughton was driving the other car, while Jamont Ellis and Denzel Williams were passengers.
After the crash, Ellis and Williams allegedly approached Allen with guns, got into her 2005 Mercury Montego and drove away with her inside. Allen was reported missing the next day, while her stolen car was later found burning at a vacant property in north St. Louis.
The early investigation was already grim. KMOX reported that Allen’s family and police searched for her before her body was found on April 9, 2022, in a vacant area near Scranton Avenue and Riverview Drive.
What The Charging Documents Allege
Investigators say the car fire was arson and occurred about two hours after the crash. Allen had been shot multiple times, and .40-caliber shell casings found at the scene were matched to two separate incidents involving Ellis and Haughton, according to the charging documents reviewed by First Alert 4.
The documents allege that Haughton abandoned the vehicle involved in the crash, then regrouped with Ellis and Williams. The three allegedly traveled around the city in separate cars while Allen remained inside her stolen vehicle, before the car was burned and Allen was killed.
Haughton is also accused of admitting that he was involved in the crash and helped Ellis and Williams. He had pleaded guilty to first-degree arson in St. Louis County in March 2022, while Ellis is currently incarcerated on weapons and narcotics violations, according to the report.
One Alleged Participant Was Later Killed
Williams is not facing prosecution in the Allen case because police say he was killed in an unrelated St. Louis County incident in 2023. Authorities said any charges against him will be abated by the death of the offender.
Allen’s death was recorded in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch homicide tracker, which identified her as a mother of young children who left home to shop before disappearing. The case now moves into the court system with Haughton and Ellis charged with first-degree murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree kidnapping.
Charges Are Allegations
The charges are accusations, not convictions. Haughton and Ellis are presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the allegations beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
