‘Jealous man, 37, stabbed ex to death and beat with baseball bat in front of her kids who got her blood on their faces’

A “JEALOUS” man allegedly stabbed his ex-girlfriend to death and beat her with a baseball bat in front of her kids who got her blood on their faces.

Stephen Craig Phillips, 37, repeatedly stabbed 34-year-old Jennifer McCollum while her three children were in her trailer home in Ballantine, Montana, a charging document filed Tuesday revealed.

Yellowstone County Sheriff Department

Yellowstone County Sheriff Department

When Yellowstone County deputies arrived at the home on the morning of May 15, McCollum was found lying dead in a pool of her own blood, according to an arrest affidavit, obtained by NBC8.

The affidavit said her three children – ages nine months old, 4, and 9 – were discovered with dried blood on their hands, faces, and feet.

It also stated that one of McCollum’s kids told deputies: “Hello, my mom has been killed. Steven killed my mom.”

A large kitchen knife was reportedly found on the floor with blood on it.

Phillips pleaded not guilty in Yellowstone County District Court Tuesday morning and is facing homicide charges.

His mom, who lives next door to McCollum, told deputies Phillips returned to her home on May 15 saying: “I’m sorry… I handled it.”

She revealed Philips and the victim had been in an on-off relationship after a recent breakup and that he arrived at her house covered in blood, according to the affidavit.

On Friday morning, deputies arrested Phillips for deliberate homicide after they found him on a nearby road, KTVQ reported.

Autopsy results revealed she had multiple blunt force trauma injuries, skull lacerations, and broken wrists – as well as stab wounds over most of her body.

McCollum succumbed to the injuries sustained during the assault, a medical examiner ruled.

According to prosecutors, bloody clothing was found in McCollums home as well as evidence of a bloody cleanup, KTVQ reported.

McCollum’s current boyfriend reportedly told deputies that Phillips had been harassing them in the weeks leading up to his girlfriend’s death.

A neighbor and close friend of McCollum’s, Jessica, told CrimeOnline: “I am still shocked and disgusted that someone ended such a beautiful woman’s life over something so senseless.

“And she was literally less than 10 feet from my home as that monster savagely took her life in front of her babies.”