BATON ROUGE - The Baton Rouge Police Department said a 23-year-old woman died due to a stabbing on Old Hammond Highway, with the suspect setting himself on fire afterward.

Police said they responded around 2:13 a.m. Thursday to Stasy Charles, 23, lying in the parking lot in the 12000 block of Old Hammond Highway with several severe stab wounds. She was taken to a local hospital and died during surgery.

Officers also responded to a crash nearby, where they determined Steven Heinrich Jr. was involved in both the crash and stabbing.

BRPD said that, according to preliminary reports, Heinrich arrived at Charles' residence and began ramming her vehicle with his vehicle. He then removed her from her vehicle, stabbed her and then drove away. While fleeing, he intentionally entered the oncoming lane of travel, resulting in a head-on collision with another vehicle.

While in his vehicle after the crash, Heinrich set himself on fire. He was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

BRPD also said that on Nov. 5, Charles contacted police about a battery that resulted in Heinrich's arrest. He posted a $2,500 bail for battery of a dating partner and was served with a protective order within 24 hours of arrest. Police say he also had six out-of-state protective orders from various women.

Court records showed that Charles filed a restraining order on Oct. 6, 2025 to prevent Heinrich from going near Charles' work or school. In those records, Charles alleged that Heinrich had stalked her, punched her and threatened her life over the past year.

In those records, Charles also said Heinrich created a fake number, put her family, friends and employer in a group chat and sent inappropriate pictures; she said for the past two months, Heinrich created fake numbers and social media accounts to harass her and her family.

The order was dismissed after Charles didn't appear for the hearing, court records said.