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ST. PETERS, Mo. (KTVI) — A Missouri man has been charged with murder in the Thanksgiving Day stabbing of a 22-year-old pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

Damion Delgado, 27, of O’Fallon, has also been charged with armed criminal action and second-degree murder in the death of Amethyst Killian’s unborn child.

Damion Delgado (Credit: St. Charles County)

“It was a very violent, violent killing,” Tim Lohmar, St. Charles prosecuting attorney, said during a press briefing Thursday.

Lohmar said Killian, also the mother of two other children, was stabbed more than 20 times, mostly in the head, neck and abdomen. He said a motive is not clear.

Lohmar said Killian and Delgado met online and were engaging in “some dangerous activity” the night of the crime but wouldn’t go into more detail.

The prosecuting attorney said investigators were told Killian left her house early on the morning of Nov. 26 to go get cigarettes.

When she didn’t return, her boyfriend and stepfather went to search for her. Lohmar said about 20 hours after her disappearance, they found her purse and items of clothing near her home near Old Town St. Peters.

Her relatives contacted police and soon afterward, her body was found in some brush.

Lohmar said several droplets of blood were found on a knife, sidewalk and fence near the scene. It was later identified as belonging to Delgado, authorities said.

Investigators also discovered Killian was communicating with the Text Now app.

While reviewing her phone records, officials found that Killian’s last communication was with a man named Damian Delgado.

Investigators got an IP address from those texts and were able to trace it to a residence where Delgado was staying.

Lohmar said the biggest breakthrough was when a piece of evidence they found at the crime scene was identified in one of those text messages. The defendant allegedly admitted to purchasing the item, which police did not disclose.

Lohmar said detectives then went to several gas stations in the area and pulled records to see if a similar item was purchased.

He said Delgado was seen on surveillance video 10-15 minutes before he met up with Killian at a local gas station.

Detectives also interviewed the Uber driver who allegedly drove Delgado to the scene.

Lohmar said Delgado, who is being held on a $1 million bond, has little criminal history.