A man from Illinois faces incarceration for allegedly murdering his mother and subsequently attempting to incinerate her home in a bid to erase evidence of the crime, as per authorities in the Prairie State.

David Nguyen, aged 38, has been charged with murder with intent to harm or kill and the concealment of a homicidal death, according to details from a press statement released by the O’Fallon Police Department.

The investigation began on December 27, 2025, when a welfare check at a two-story residence on Bossler Lane in O’Fallon—an intimate suburb of St. Louis in southern Illinois—uncovered a tragic scene.

Family members, unable to contact 72-year-old Terrie “Tracy” Nguyen, led police to discover her lifeless body inside her home. Authorities immediately suspected foul play, deeming her death both suspicious and violent.

Swiftly, detectives focused on her son as a potential suspect and initiated efforts to locate him, as highlighted in the press release.

Later that same afternoon, a vehicle linked to the wanted man was seen traveling westbound on Interstate 70 near Concordia, Missouri, near the outskirts of Kansas City. At around 4:30 p.m., Show-Me State troopers gave chase along the highway. The pursuit ended when the suspect’s gray Toyota Tacoma pickup truck slowed down, drove onto the right shoulder and crashed in a wooded area, according to a compilation of footage from the chase and arrest issued by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The defendant was initially arrested on one count of felony fleeing and placed in the custody of the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department pending extradition to St. Clair County, Illinois.

In Illinois, the more serious charges were filed by the St. Clair County State Attorney’s Office on New Year’s Eve 2025.

Prosecutors allege David Nguyen struck “Terrie Nguyen about the face and placed plastic wrap over her nose and mouth,” according to a charging document obtained by the Belleville News-Democrat.

The alleged killer then intended to hide his mother’s murder under a pile of smoldering ashes, according to law enforcement.

Prosecutors allege the son, “with knowledge that Terrie Nguyen had died by homicidal means, concealed the death of Terrie Nguyen by activating unlit gas burners on a stove to fill the house with gas and left a lit candle inside the house with the intent to cause an explosion.”

No motive has been provided as to why David Nguyen would have wanted his mother dead. And law enforcement is still unsure about how, exactly, the victim died.

“Her cause of death is undetermined,” O’Fallon Police Department Lt. Patrick Feldhake told the News-Democrat on Wednesday. “We haven’t got the autopsy report back yet.”

The victim worked at a nail salon in nearby Collinsville – another small city in Illinois that is part of the St. Louis metro area.

The woman, who went by “Tracy,” was memorialized on a series of social media posts in a local Collinsville Facebook group.

“Her impact on this community was huge probably more than they realize,” one of her former customers wrote. “She was always smiling always a kind word always willing to be there.”