ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man is in custody for allegedly stabbing a woman to death over the weekend and attempting to hide her body under some leaves.

According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement, officers received a call for help shortly before 9:35 p.m. Sunday in the 4400 block of Marcus Avenue.

Officers arrived to find the body of a woman in a rear yard at the bottom of a stairwell. She’d been stabbed several times and was covered in leaves. The woman has not been identified.

Hours after the discovery, police spoke with a witness who said they’d met with someone who bragged that he’d killed the woman and left her in a stairwell. The suspect was identified as Hugh A. Singleton, 33.

Investigators learned the victim had called 911 earlier in the day to report someone had been harassing her about money. They later recovered video of Singleton and the victim standing outside Sam’s St. Louis Packing Company just before she made that call. Police said Singleton could be seen and heard yelling at the victim.

Police obtained video from the BP gas station across the street from where the victim was found dead. While the video does not directly show the exact location, it does show houses nearby.

Police said the victim and Singleton can be seen on the gas station video arguing at approximately 7 p.m. the night of the stabbing. Shortly thereafter, the victim can be seen walking in the direction where her body was found. Thirty minutes after that, Singleton is seen walking toward the gas station with a dark stain on his sweatshirt that was not there before.

According to investigators, another witness reportedly saw Singleton burning items in a trash can afterwards.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Singleton with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Singleton remains jailed without bond until trial. He’s due back in court on April 10 for a detention hearing and May 1 for a preliminary hearing.