A concerned resident called 911 when they saw a young girl wandering around the courtyard of their New Jersey apartment complex late Tuesday (June 16) night. When officers from the Dumont Police Department arrived, they found the five-year-old girl, and she led them back to her home, where her mother, 36-year-old Michelle Burns, had been stabbed to death with a kitchen knife.
Burns' sister, who lived next door, told officers that she heard a fight between Michelle and her boyfriend Jeffrey Daniels, 36, earlier in the night.
Not long after discovering Burns' body, authorities in Dumont were notified that Daniels had been taken into custody in the nearby town of Closter. He had two young children with him, and they were taken to the hospital where doctors confirmed they were unharmed.
Daniels was charged with murder, possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, and endangering the welfare of a child and is being held at the Bergen County Jail until his court hearing.
Photo: Bergen County Jail