Affidavit: Slain pregnant Texas woman fought for life

BEDFORD, Texas - A 7-months pregnant woman who was allegedly murdered by her live-in boyfriend in their shared apartment in the Dallas-Forth Worth area fought for her life and crawled from her bathroom to her bedroom before she died, according to new details released by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Tracy Anderson, 27, was found dead of multiple stab wounds Sunday, March 23. Her 26-year-old boyfriend, Robert Atlas, was arrested at 2 a.m. last Tuesday after authorities, acting on an anonymous tip, found the suspect sleeping in his car in a Walmart parking lot in Louisiana. As of last week, Atlas was awaiting extradition back to Bedford, where he will face a capital murder charge in his girlfriend's death.

A 6-page arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram, details of which were released last week, sheds light on the case against Atlas.

According to the paper, the affidavit states that officers - who went to the couple's apartment on Sunday after the victim's mother reported not hearing from her since the previous Friday - found drops of blood leading from the building's ground floor up to the third floor, where Anderson and Atlas lived. Once inside, police reportedly found dried blood in the bathroom and dining room, with blood smears on walls, cabinets and floors. A bathroom door had been pulled from its hinges, according to the affidavit.

Investigators reportedly found a cell phone covered in blood, noting that it appeared as if the victim crawled to the phone, pulled it and its charger from the wall, and then dropped it. The affidavit states that authorities also found a large silver serrated knife on the living room floor, covered in dried blood.

The Star-Telegram reports that according to the affidavit that the victim had defensive wounds on both hands, as well as stab wounds in her chin and in the center of her stomach.

Police told the paper that the couple had been dating for about a year and had just bought the apartment. Anderson's pregnancy was reportedly a stressor in the relationship. Friends of the couple told police that Atlas and a friend were out drinking at a Fort Worth bar the Friday before Anderson's body was discovered. Anderson allegedly confronted the suspect at the bar before leaving angrily, according to the Star-Telegram.

"[Robert] is not a thug," Brenda Atlas, the suspect's mother, told the Star-Telegram in a phone interview. "He is not a monster. He loved [Tracy].... He said she's the one, but friends told me that she made life miserable for him. He got her pregnant, so he was going to do the right thing and be with her."

The paper reports that both the suspect and the victim had a history of domestic abuse, including an incident in February where Anderson was charged with assault causing bodily injury to a family member for allegedly striking Atlas with her hand, according to court records. Atlas was a suspect in a domestic violence case in January 2011 involving a former girlfriend.