A young mother was fatally shot Tuesday and her body was burned in the woods behind her house. Her five-year-old son was shot multiple times. Despite being left to die, the child is recovering in a Jackson hospital.

The woman's boyfriend has been charged in the shootings.

Marcus Gardner, 22, has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, 21-year-old Chelsea Pace of Starkville, and aggravated assault in the shooting of her son.

An autopsy will be conducted tomorrow but Pace appears to have died from a single gunshot wound to the face, according to Noxubee County Coroner R.L. Calhoun.

Initial evidence from the crime scene suggests she died inside her home off of Highway 388 and was dragged out of the back door into the woods, 10 to 20 feet behind the house, Calhoun said.

Pace's body was recovered Tuesday morning, "badly burned." The accelerant is unknown but Calhoun said the scene smelled of gasoline. A gasoline container has not yet been found, he said. Calhoun could not comment on the murder weapon.

The child was shot "multiple times," and is listed in stable condition at University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson.

The couple "hadn't been together that long," Calhoun said.

According to Calhoun, the couple recently moved to Noxubee from Starkville. Gardner is not the child's father, Calhoun said. He added that the boy's father is currently deployed.

When asked if the couple had prior domestic violence calls, Calhoun said, "Not here but we're looking in Starkville."

According to the Oktibbeha County Sheriff's Department, there were no domestic violence calls regarding the couple. Neither Gardner's name or Pace's name was in the system at the Starkville Police Department, according to public information officer Corporal Brandon Lovelady.

Officials with the Noxubee County Sheriff's Department were not available for comment. Further details were not immediately available.

ContactSarah Fowler at 601-961-7303 orsfowler@gannett.com. Follow her onFacebook andTwitter.