'If anything happens to me, let my kids know I love them': Mother's terrifying Facebook premonition three days before 'ex-boyfriend stabbed her to death'

Michelle Rowling was found fatally stabbed in her Missouri apartment on Saturday - 5 days after warning friends that she might die

Message was posted on the day she learned her ex-boyfriend had been released from prison, where he was locked up for assaulting her in August

Montrell Cooper, 25, now being sought as a person of interest



A mother has been found fatally stabbed in her apartment five days after posting a terrifying message to Facebook warning her friends that she might die.

'If anything happens to me tonight just let my kids know I loved them dearly and tell my momma I love her,' Michelle Rowling, 25, posted on Monday.

Family and friends say the message referred to her ex-boyfriend, 25-year-old Montrell Cooper, who was released from jail that day. He had been locked up for assaulting Rowling in August.



On Saturday, police were called to her housing complex in East St Louis, Missouri to investigate a disturbance at around 9pm when they found the young mother with multiple stab wounds.

Killed: Michelle Rowling, left, was found stabbed in her apartment five days after warning friends on Facebook that she might die. That same day, her ex-boyfriend, Montrell Cooper, right, was released from prison



Rowling, mother to an eight-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, was taken to a nearby hospital but pronounced dead on arrival.

Cooper is now being sought as a person of interest in the case.

St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly told KSDK that Cooper had been released from jail on Monday - the day of the Facebook post - for an assault against her in August.

While locked up, he had threatened to kill her, family members told KTVI.

Terrifying: Five days before she was found dead, she posted this message on Facebook. It apparently refers to her ex-boyfriend's release from prison, where he was sent after assaulting her in August

Friends and family said he was upset that she was trying to move on with her life.



'I JUST GOT SOME F***ED UP NEWS,' she wrote beneath the original comment. 'THE POLICE... LOL IM GONE B GONE BOUT TIME THEY COME.'

Although he had been arrested for assault, in 2012, Rowling testified on behalf of Cooper in an attack, leaving him with probation instead of jail time, friends said.



On Monday, the state attorney once again sought prison time for the assault in August but Rowling was uncooperative, he said. The court released Cooper on probation again.

Loss: Rowling had an eight-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, who are now with relatives



Happier times: Cooper was reportedly upset that she was trying to move on with her life and he is being sought as a person of interest. He had been jailed in the past for assault but she had testified on his behalf

Police said Rowling's children are staying with her family members.



Authorities are now looking for Cooper and found his abandoned SUV, which is being processed.