Police chief: Grovetown woman, child stabbed before Monday morning house fire

A woman and her child are dead after an apparent double homicide-arson Monday morning in Grovetown.

Karen Denise Boswell, 47, and her juvenile son, whose name and age have not been released, were pronounced dead at the scene following the house fire, according to a news release from the Grovetown Police Department.

At about 11 a.m. Monday, the Grovetown Fire Department was dispatched to a structure fire at 309 Newmantown Rd., according to the release. At the same time, City of Grovetown general services director David Carlin was traveling on Newmantown Road and saw the home ablaze.

Carlin got out of his car and a neighbor told him there were people inside the home, according to police. He tried to enter a rear door. When firefighters arrived at the scene, at about 11 a.m., they entered the home to search for anyone inside.

Donald Beck, 32, was found just inside a rear window of the home and it appeared he broke the glass to try to escape the fire, according to the release. Firefighters pulled him from the home and he said there were others still inside.

Beck was turned over to EMS and taken to a local hospital while firefighters continued working to extinguish the blaze.

Once the fire was extinguished, the bodies of Boswell and her juvenile son were found within debris in a front room, having suffered "apparent thermal injuries," according to the release.

Beck and Boswell lived together at the home along with several juveniles, according to the department.

Police said the other children were "not present at the time and have been placed with other family members," following the fire.

The coroner and State Fire Marshal's Office were called to the scene and once the coroner arrived, both bodies were examined, according to the release. It was determined both bodies also sustained knife injuries.

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The mother and son will be transported to the GBI Crime Lab for autopsy, according to the release. The Grovetown Police Department has taken over the case and is investigating it as a homicide.

"We will be working with the State Fire Marshal's Office as well as the GBI and District Attorney's Office on this investigation," Grovetown Police Chief Jamey Kitchens wrote in the release.

As of 4:30 p.m., Beck was being guarded at a local hospital and the department said he is considered a suspect, according to the release. Warrants for his arrest are pending.

"It is still very early in the investigation and more details will be released as warranted," Kitchens wrote in the release. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of Ms. Boswell and her child."

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Grovetown structure fire being investigated as homicide