A friend said he heard Alonzo McDaniel III shout that he had been stabbed.
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A phone call between friends became part of a homicide case after a St. Louis man screamed that he had been stabbed and then went silent, according to those close to him.
Alonzo McDaniel III, 65, died after the May 23 stabbing inside the north St. Louis home he shared with his wife, Evelyn McDaniel, 65. Police said officers were called around 10:15 p.m. to the 3900 block of East Lexington Avenue and found him just inside the home, barely breathing, with a stab wound to the chest. He was taken to a hospital and died. Evelyn McDaniel stayed at the scene, police said, and later admitted to stabbing him. She is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action.
James Moton, one of Alonzo McDaniel’s close friends, said he was on the phone with him just before the stabbing. Moton said he heard an altercation begin in the background. Then, he said, Alonzo McDaniel cried out. “I heard him scream, ‘Ah, why you just stabbed me?! You stabbed me!’” Moton said. He said the call then fell silent. Moton described the moment as hearing a man he considered a brother take his last breath. That account places a witness, though not physically present, inside the last seconds before police and medics became involved.
The phone call is one of several accounts now shaping the public picture of what happened in the home. Tina-Marie McDaniel, Alonzo McDaniel’s sister, said her brother had spent part of the day with a close friend and was working toward starting a new business. She said Evelyn McDaniel had been calling him nonstop. Relatives said Evelyn McDaniel had been upset through the day and they believed she had been drinking, though investigators have not publicly confirmed a toxicology finding or said whether alcohol will be part of the prosecution. Tina-Marie McDaniel said the couple argued after returning home and that the conflict quickly escalated.
According to Tina-Marie McDaniel, the fatal confrontation followed years of trouble in the marriage. She said Evelyn McDaniel had threatened her brother before and that relatives had warned him to leave. “We tried to tell him to leave because we knew something was gonna happen,” she said. She called Evelyn McDaniel abusive and said Alonzo McDaniel had been tolerating threats and cruelty for a long time. Those claims are now part of the family’s public account, though police have not released a full record of prior calls, complaints or reports involving the couple. Prosecutors may later decide whether earlier incidents are relevant to the criminal case.
Family members say one reason the alleged abuse went overlooked was the couple’s size difference. Tina-Marie McDaniel said her brother stood 6 feet 3 inches tall and Evelyn McDaniel was about 4 feet 7 inches tall. She said that difference did not reflect what was happening inside the home. Alonzo McDaniel, she said, would not hit his wife or fight her. “If he wanted to hurt her, he could have,” she said. “If he wanted to really stop her, he could have. With physical force.” She said she believed Evelyn McDaniel relied on his restraint and that his refusal to respond with force made him easier to harm.
Police have not publicly released every investigative detail, but the known sequence is direct. Officers responded to a reported stabbing, found Alonzo McDaniel wounded near the inside of the home and sent him for emergency treatment. Evelyn McDaniel remained there and was detained. Police said she admitted during questioning that she stabbed him. Reports citing the probable cause record say the wound was to the chest. The public record does not yet say where in the home the stabbing began, whether the knife was found at once, whether any surveillance video exists or what statements neighbors gave to officers that night.
The case moved into court with two charges. Second-degree murder accuses Evelyn McDaniel of unlawfully killing her husband under Missouri law. Armed criminal action accuses her of using a weapon or dangerous instrument while committing the alleged felony. She was being held without bond when the case was first reported, and a first court appearance had not yet been set. At that hearing, a judge is expected to address the formal status of the case and future dates. Later steps could include discovery, a probable cause review, bond arguments, motions and hearings over any statements or physical evidence.
While the court process begins, Alonzo McDaniel’s relatives are trying to keep public attention on who he was outside the house. They described him as a truck driver and a neighbor who made time for other people. They said he mowed lawns for free, checked on older residents after storms, bought groceries for people in need and mentored neighborhood teenagers. Tina-Marie McDaniel said he was gentle and that the whole block loved him. Her description of him as caring and supportive has become a counterweight to the violent way he died, giving the case a fuller human shape than the charge sheet alone can show.
The family’s statements also point to a broader tension in how domestic violence is discussed when the person killed is male. Tina-Marie McDaniel said her brother’s size did not spare him and his gender should not make the abuse claims easier to dismiss. She said he would not fight back because that was not who he was. Her words have framed the case around restraint, fear and the private life of a couple whose problems relatives say had been visible for years. At the same time, the court will be limited to admissible evidence, and Evelyn McDaniel retains the presumption of innocence unless prosecutors prove the charges.
The most painful details remain simple for those closest to Alonzo McDaniel. A sister says she warned him. A friend says he heard the last cry. Officers say they found him barely breathing. Doctors could not save him. The case now turns on what investigators can prove about the argument, the wound, the alleged admission and any history the court allows jurors or a judge to hear. Prosecutors have not publicly laid out a motive, and no full timeline from both spouses has been released. That leaves the family’s account and the police allegations as the main public record for now.
Alonzo McDaniel’s death remains under prosecution in St. Louis, with Evelyn McDaniel held in the pending case. The next public milestone is the first scheduled court appearance, where the early allegations are expected to give way to formal dates and evidence deadlines.
Author note: Last updated Sunday, June 21, 2026.