Inset: David Nguyen (O'Fallon Police Department). Background: The house where Nguyen allegedly killed his mother in O'Fallon, Ill. (Google Maps).
An Illinois man is behind bars for killing his mother and then trying to burn her house down to hide the evidence of the slaying, according to law enforcement in the Land of Lincoln.
David Nguyen, 38, stands accused of one count each of murder with intent to kill or injure and concealment of a homicidal death, according to a press release issued by the O'Fallon Police Department.
Law enforcement learned there was something amiss on Dec. 27, 2025, when a requested welfare check led to the discovery of a body at a two-story house on Bossler Lane in O'Fallon – a small St. Louis suburb located in southern Illinois.
The family reported being unable to reach Terrie "Tracy" Nguyen, 72, and police discovered her body inside the residence. Police immediately believed her death was "suspicious and the result of violence," police said.
In short order, investigators identified the victim's son as a "person of interest" and tried to locate him, according to 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."
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