Crying boy, 4, found next to murdered mother; suspect arrested

A 25-year-old woman was found killed in an apartment on Goudbaard in Bergen op Zoom during the early hours of Saturday morning. Her 4-year-old son was found crying next to her. A 24-year-old man turned himself in at a police station in the Noord-Brabant city on Sunday, BN De Stem and RTL Nieuws report.

The police responded to the apartment after a report of a disturbance around 1:15 a.m. on Saturday. When no one answered the door, they forced it open. The officers found the critically injured woman in the living room with her crying son next to her, according to RTL. She died of her injuries a short time later. The child is currently in the care of a foster family.

BN De Stem identifies the victim as Lara Sint Jago. The man arrested for involvement in her death is her boyfriend, acquaintances of the young mother told the newspaper. They had a turbulent relationship. "Then it went well for a while, then it was only fighting again", a good friend said about the victim and suspect. "He showed criminal behavior in the past, so is known to the police. Recently he was released again. With this sad ending."

Officers previously responded to the apartment after reports of domestic violence, but the woman didn't want their help, the police confirmed to NU.nl. Local residents regularly called the police about fighting in the woman's home. The police always responded to these reports. But at the scene, the woman denied that anything was wrong and never reported being abused.