#5-year-old found wandering after mom was allegedly murdered by boyfriend: cops

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Jeffrey Daniels and Michelle Burns
Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office; GoFundMe

A New Jersey man allegedly stabbed his girlfriend to death with a kitchen knife — leaving her 5-year-old daughter wandering outside their home as he walked off with the couple’s two kids together, according to reports.

Jeffrey Daniels, 36, faces murder, weapons and child-endangerment charges after the body of Michelle Burns was discovered in their garden apartment in Dumont on Tuesday, according to NJ.com.

Police received a 911 call about 12:20 a.m. from a neighbor who reported that she saw Burns’ child walking alone in the courtyard on Knickerbocker Road, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said.

“Officers entered Ms. Burns’ apartment to conduct a welfare check and found her deceased,” the prosecutor said in a statement, the news outlet reported. “She had been stabbed in the neck with a kitchen knife.”

A short time later, police collared Daniels about 4 miles away in Closter, where he showed up at a residence with their young children, aged 18 months and 6 months.

The toddler and infant were checked at a hospital and found to be unharmed, according to authorities.

Nicole Boccellari, Burns’ younger sister who lives in the same apartment building, said she was at home when a neighbor called her to say that Daniels had knocked on her door to ask for a ride, NorthJersey.com reported.

She said the neighbor did not open because she was scared.

“As he walked off to the next apartment to knock on their door, she noticed that he had no pants and only a jacket and holding a baby,” Boccellari told the news outlet.

The neighbor soon saw the 5-year-old girl walking outside and called the cops.

“I was calling and screaming her name into the apartment and banging on the door, and my neighbor was banging on the windows, and we got no response,” Boccellari said about her frantic attempts to reach her sister.

Boccellari said there was a history of arguments and fights between the couple, adding that her sister never filed a restraining order because she feared Daniels would kill her.

“It was never a good relationship, it was never a safe relationship,” she told NorthJersey.com.

“She always watched over me, she was very protective of me. She wanted to be a mom to me. Protect me, guide me, make me feel the best,” Boccellari added.