BREAKING: Police say man admits to strangling woman; now faces murder charge

JACKSON, Tenn. — A man who was taken into custody in Chattanooga after a woman was found dead in her Jackson apartment is now charged with murder.

Police say Keon Stewart, 23, told investigators he strangled Amanda Northern for five to 10 minutes after an argument turned physical, then hid her body in a plastic tote, according to court documents.

Stewart is now charged with second-degree murder.

Officers went to Northern’s Park Wood Trace apartment Oct. 16 for a welfare check. At that time police did not find Northern at the residence.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued an endangered child alert for her two children. Stewart was arrested Oct. 17 in Chattanooga after a police standoff. The two children were found safe inside the apartment where Stewart was arrested.

Police executed a search warrant at Nothern’s apartment in Jackson where they found her body inside a plastic tote, according to court documents. They say her body was bound at the wrists and ankles.

Court documents say Stewart told police he strangled Northern before hiding her body in the plastic tote so he could remove it from the apartment building.

Stewart is being held in lieu of a $10 million bond.

We’ll have more on these developments on WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News at 6.