US man stabs stepdaughter after she asks for food, sets body on fire

Michigan: In a disturbing incident, a man allegedly stabbed his 5-year-old stepdaughter to death and burnt her body using vodka on November 1, because she had asked for food, said the police.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, Thomas McClellan, 25, snapped after his stepdaughter, Luna Michelle Younger, refused to leave his room until he gave her food. He allegedly sat on her chest and stabbed her, before wrapping her body in a blanket and setting it on fire using vodka, said police officials.

Officials said that the autopsy report revealed that the girl died of at least five stab wounds before the fire, in a preliminary hearing at the District Court in Mason. McClellan has been charged for murder, first-degree child abuse and first-degree arson and if convicted may spend his life in jail.

The fire department was called in to extinguish the fire, as the flames started to spread.

Fire fighter Corey Drolett said that initially he thought the girl might be hiding from the fire. He also said that he searched the closet and under the bed before finding her body covered in the burning blanket, the report said.

Commanding officer Jeffrey Young said that while he realised that the girl was dead, he ordered another officer to perform CPR lightly. He further added that he wanted show some effort taken by the crew in front of the mother, Victoria McClellan.

Victoria claimed that she had been at work when her daughter was killed and also said that she had argued with McClellan before she left. The report also stated that Victoria had convinced McClellan to surrender to the police force. Notably, he has no criminal history.