Pregnant Mother of 3 Found Dead in Shopping Cart
Someone wheeled a shopping cart down a quiet street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and left it near the Westdale Town Center. But this wasn't a grocery run. Inside the cart, wrapped in a blood-soaked comforter and buried beneath bags of trash, police discovered the body of 38-year-old Brittany Hopkins — a pregnant mother of three whose life ended in unimaginable violence.
A Trail of Blood and a Shopping Cart
Officers responded to a call around 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 28, 2025. The scene shocked even seasoned investigators. According to court documents cited by The Gazette, the comforter had been tied with electrical tape, and an autopsy later confirmed Hopkins died from blunt-force trauma to the head.
Police didn't need to look far. Less than a block away, they zeroed in on an apartment building at 4215 21st Ave. SW. Security footage from the night before captured someone pushing an empty shopping cart inside, then wheeling it out again 15 minutes later — this time full — and heading toward the area where Hopkins turned up dead. Apartment access records linked the alleged movements directly to Donnie Danell White, 51, who lived in the building.
Massive Amount of Evidence
Inside his apartment, investigators found a scene soaked in horror. Court documents described blood spatter on the walls, bleach stains the size and shape of a human body, a hammer, and a broken CO2 air gun both covered in blood and hair, and a bloody handprint later matched to White. Drag marks led from the apartment down the hall — along a carpet with visible grooves from shopping cart wheels.
From Surveillance to Suspect
Hopkins didn't cross paths with White by chance. Security video showed them together days earlier on Feb. 22, 2025, in the parking lot of a U-Haul facility at Westdale, as reported by CBS 2 Iowa. On Feb. 26, 2025, a witness told police they saw White assault Hopkins in person. Just two days later, her body turned up.
After Hopkins' name went public, police received a tip linking White to the days leading up to her death. But by then, he had already vanished. Investigators reached out to the U.S. Marshals Service, who located him in Las Vegas. On March 19, 2025, authorities arrested White and charged him with first-degree murder and nonconsensual termination of pregnancy, according to online court records.
A Mother Silenced
Hopkins' family now faces a painful future without her. She leaves behind three children — ages 14, 4, and a toddler who had not yet turned 2. In a fundraiser posted online, her mother wrote, "They now have to learn to live without the woman that provided them life," according to PEOPLE.
The family also suggested Hopkins may have fallen victim to human trafficking, though Cedar Rapids police declined to comment on that claim, citing the ongoing investigation.
Still More Questions Than Answers
Police haven't said how Hopkins knew White, or what led to the fatal attack. But the evidence paints a grim picture — one that suggests planning, concealment, and a shocking disregard for human life. For now, White sits behind bars awaiting trial, and a grieving family waits for justice.
Justice can't bring Brittany Hopkins back. But it might answer the question that still haunts Cedar Rapids: How did a woman fearing for her life end up abandoned in a shopping cart — silenced before she could cry for help?
This case is ongoing.
References: Pregnant Mom Was Found Bludgeoned to Death in Shopping Cart — and Search of Man's Home Revealed Horrific Scene | Cedar Rapids police: Murdered woman was found wrapped in comforter in shopping cart
