Inset: Kristian Haughton (St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department). Background: The still-in-progress Cementland public art exhibit in St. Louis, Mo. (Google Maps).
A woman and a man in Missouri have been charged in connection with the kidnapping and killing of a mother who vanished while she was out getting diapers for her infant daughter in 2022.
In March 2022, 25-year-old Dasia Allen left for the errand and never made it home. Roughly a week later, her body was found in the woods near Cementland, a still-incomplete public art exhibit and former cement factory located on Scranton Avenue in St. Louis.
Kristian Haughton, 30, and Jamont Ellis, 30, now stand accused of one count each of first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
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Hours after Allen was last seen alive, her burned-out 2005 Mercury Montego was found on Thrush Avenue, some 2 miles south of Cementland, according to St. Louis-based Fox affiliate WTVI.
She was reported missing the next day and her body was found by friends less than a mile from her residence on Rivertrail Court.
“The victim was shot multiple times in what can be best described as a frenzied execution,” a police officer wrote in court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate KSDK.
Allen was involved in a car crash during that diaper run on the day in question, charging documents obtained by local CBS and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMOV allege. Also involved in that crash was a vehicle driven by Haughton and occupied by Ellis and Denzel Williams, police said. The crash occurred near the intersection of Riverview Drive and Chain of Rocks Drive, according to law enforcement.
An altercation quickly followed the car crash, police said.
Ellis and Williams allegedly got out of Haughton’s car, guns in hand, and approached the young mother. Then, the men got into her car and drove off with Allen still inside — holding her at gunpoint, police said.
Meanwhile, Haughton abandoned her own car and arranged to meet up with Ellis and Williams, police said. Then, the defendants kept Allen hostage as they drove around St. Louis, according to law enforcement.
Law enforcement is not sure when, exactly, Allen was killed, but investigators found .40-caliber shell casings near the crime scene that were eventually linked to two different crimes, police said. One crime involved Ellis and the other involved Haughton, according to the charging document.
During a recent interview with detectives, Haughton allegedly admitted to being involved in the car crash and then aiding Ellis and Williams, police said. The female defendant was arrested on July 27 with the help of the FBI, police said.
Ellis is currently incarcerated on a weapons and narcotics violation, the police department said in a statement. A booking photo of the male defendant is not available, a spokesperson told Law&Crime.
Williams was killed in an unrelated incident in St. Louis County in 2023, police said. The charges against Williams will be “Abated by Death of the Offender,” according to law enforcement.
Haughton is being detained in the St. Louis County Jail with no bond. She is slated to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 27.
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