Coroner: Assaulted East Prairie woman dies in hospital

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- An East Prairie-area woman allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend has died.

Mississippi County Coroner Terry Parker said Laura Faison, 28, was taken to the hospital last week for injuries from what appears to be a case of domestic violence.

"She had been physically assaulted," Parker said. "She died Thursday night at Saint Francis Medical Center at about 6:30 p.m."

Robert M. "Chico" Christian, 27, was arrested by the Mississippi County Sheriff's Department on a related assault in Faison's home, which is outside East Prairie city limits.

Christian is being held in the Mississippi County Detention Center on felony first-degree assault charges filed Monday. Bond information was not released Saturday by the sheriff's department, which said more charges are expected to be filed.

An autopsy was scheduled to have been done Saturday at the Mineral Area Regional Medical Center in Farmington, Mo.

The preliminary hearing on the assault charge had been scheduled for Dec. 15.