Pregnant Mom Was Found Bludgeoned to Death in Shopping Cart — and Search of Man's Home Revealed Horrific Scene

A pregnant woman who was killed in February was found wrapped in a blood-soaked comforter and stuffed inside a shopping cart, according to newly released court documents.

Brittany Hopkins, 38, was found dead on Feb. 28, in a residential area in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, by officers responding to a report of a deceased person, the Cedar Rapids Police Department said in a statement at the time.

On March 19, Donnie Danell White was arrested in Nevada on a murder charge regarding a homicide in Cedar Rapids, according to a statement from the U.S. Marshals, the agency that made the arrest. 

White was arrested in connection with Hopkins’ murder, a spokesperson for Cedar Rapids Police Department confirmed to PEOPLE. Online court records show the alleged murder took place on Feb. 26.

White, 51, is accused of beating Hopkins to death, covering her body in a comforter and putting her in a shopping cart, according to a newly released criminal complaint cited by CBS 2 Iowa, KCRG and The Gazette.

Hopkins was pregnant at the time she was killed, Cedar Rapids police confirmed to PEOPLE. 

The comforter she was wrapped in was soaked with blood and had been tied with tape, per the complaint, The Gazette and KCRG reported. Her body was underneath several bags of garbage.

Police say after they released information about Hopkins, they were tipped off about White, who was reportedly seen with the slain woman the day before her body was found, per The Gazette, KCRG and CBS 2 Iowa.

One witness told police they had seen White and Hopkins on Feb. 26, and he had assaulted the woman in front of the witness, per the complaint, The Gazette and KCRG reported.

Security footage reviewed during the investigation showed Hopkins and White in the parking lot of a storage facility on Feb. 22, per the complaint.

During a search of White’s residence, police found a bloodied scene, including blood spatter on the wall, bleach stains on the carpet resembling the outline of a human body and a hammer that had hair and blood on it, the complaint stated.

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In an online fundraiser, Hopkins’ family says she was the mother of three children, ages 14, 4 and a toddler “just shy of 2 years old.”

“They now have to learn to live without the woman that provided them life,” her mother wrote, adding that Hopkins had been “fearing for her life.” They further allege Hopkins may have fallen victim to human trafficking.

Cedar Rapids declined to comment on these claims, citing the pending investigation.

It wasn’t immediately clear how White may have known the victim.

He has been charged with first-degree murder and nonconsensual termination of pregnancy, according to online court records, which do not indicate plea or attorney information.