Senseless act: According to investigators, a man shot a mother and her 9-year-old daughter, turned off the smoke alarms, and abandoned them to perish in a burning house.

Michael McNair, 40, from Missouri, faces charges of two counts each of first-degree murder and armed criminal action, plus one count each of unlawful firearm possession and first-degree arson. He’s accused of shooting LaTasha Brown, 45, and her daughter Paige Buckner, 9, in their St. Louis home on Floy Avenue in late December 2025, disabling smoke alarms (with his fingerprints found on them), setting the house on fire, and fleeing in Brown’s SUV. Both victims died from their injuries—Paige on Dec. 22 and LaTasha on Dec. 23—after firefighters pulled them from the burning residence.

Key Evidence

  • Crime Scene: Disabled smoke alarms bore McNair’s fingerprints; he and Brown were dating and had argued the night before.
  • Phone and Vehicle…

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