First-degree murder charge filed in Jefferson City domestic killing

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been corrected to specify the death was a stabbing.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Jefferson City man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife.

Cole County Prosecuting Attorney Locke Thompson wrote in a news release that Malang J. Akbari, 46, is charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action and child endangerment for the stabbing of his wife. He was in the Cole County Jail without bond on Tuesday.

Police found the victim bleeding and unresponsive at the family's McCarty Street address Monday. Akbari, who left the scene before police arrived, was found in Pettis County, the release says. His 18-month-old boy was found safe with relatives.

A probable cause statement says Akbari believed his wife was cheating on him and tampering with his food.

The statement says Akbari called another one of his sons, age 12, and admitted to killing his wife and said he had left the house. The son found his mother bleeding on the kitchen floor and she was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the statement.

Akbari admitted to stabbing his wife during an argument in the kitchen about cheating, the statement says. He then dropped the baby off at his brother's house, telling him, "I loved her. I sacrificed everything for her ... I made a mistake. I do regret this. There was no other option for me."

An Amber Alert was sent out after the shooting, but was later canceled after the child was found safe at the brother's house.

A neighbor told ABC 17 News that the family had lived there for a few years.