CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – A tragic case unfolded in Iowa as a 51-year-old man stands accused of the brutal murder of a pregnant woman last February. Donnie White was charged with first-degree murder and the nonconsensual termination of a pregnancy in the death of Brittany Hopkins, 38.
According to police reports, Hopkins’ body was discovered at approximately 8:32 a.m. on February 28 outside an apartment complex on Westdale Drive SW. Responding officers found the victim, secured the area, and immediately began a homicide investigation.
The investigation led detectives to focus on White as a suspect. With assistance from the Northern Iowa Fugitive Task Force, efforts to find White intensified. Investigators believed he had fled Iowa following the murder, prompting collaboration with the U.S. Marshals Service’s Nevada Violent Offender Task Force.
Authorities tracked White to the 2900 block of West Washington Avenue in Las Vegas. On March 14, he was approached by marshals and surrendered without incident. White was detained while awaiting extradition to Iowa to face charges.
Further details emerged from the case. Investigators found Hopkins’ body wrapped in a comforter and enclosed with black electrical tape inside a shopping cart. Bags of trash had been placed on top of the body in an attempt to hide it. An autopsy later confirmed blunt force trauma to the head as the cause of death.
Witnesses reported seeing White and Hopkins together days before the discovery of her body. Surveillance footage obtained from a local mall dated February 22 seemed to support these accounts. On February 27, another witness allegedly observed White assaulting Hopkins.
White reportedly lived close to where the body was discovered, and evidence gathered from his apartment included blood spatter and bleach-covered rugs. Investigators also found a hammer with apparent blood and hair on it and a bloody handprint matching White.
Surveillance footage from February 27 showed White moving the shopping cart into and out of his apartment building. His return journey lined up with the direction where Hopkins’ body was later found.
Upon his return to Iowa, White was detained in Linn County Jail under a $2.5 million cash-only bond, awaiting further legal proceedings.