Scott City Community mourns mother and son killed in house fire

SCOTT CITY, Mo. (KBSI) — A house fire in Scott City has claimed the lives of a mother and her young son, leaving the close-knit community in mourning.

The victims have been identified as Paige St. John and her son, Daxton. Friends and neighbors are grieving the tragic loss, including Shyla Bozarth, a close friend of Paige’s.

“We live two or three blocks from her house,” Bozarth said. “I drove by to pick up my oldest son, and there was smoke everywhere. I could tell it was coming from that direction. I called her, but it went to voicemail.”

Bozarth said their children were close in age and often attended track meets together, which helped the two women form a quick and meaningful bond.

Bozarth recalled hearing how a passerby stopped to help during the fire. She said a man named Luke saw the flames and rushed to the home, breaking windows and calling out to those inside.

“Delaney, Paige’s daughter, was still in the house,” Bozarth said. “Luke told her to follow his voice. She found him, and he pulled her out. He tried to reach the others, but couldn’t get to them.”

The father and two other children escaped without injuries. Now, the family is left to navigate life without their wife, mother and baby boy.

“She was his whole world,” Bozarth said. “They’d been together since they were 15 or 16. Now he’s trying to figure out how to go through life without his other half.”

Autopsies for Paige and Daxton are scheduled for Thursday. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced.