Texas Mom Was Found Beaten to Death Inside Closet, Boyfriend with Alleged History of Domestic Violence Arrested

Family says they repeatedly urged Corinna Johnson, 27, to leave the boyfriend who is now charged with her murder

• Corinna Johnson and Omar Lucio dated for 6 years, according to her family, who say she was a victim of domestic violence

• Lucio is charged with her murder and a dozen other crimes related to a speeding incident

• Police say they responded to a call reporting a dead body, which was made by a woman who knew Lucio

A Texas woman reportedly found beaten to death in a closet had long been the victim of domestic abuse, her family claims.

Dallas police received a call from the nearby Garland Police Department in the early hours of April 15, reporting a murder at a Dallas apartment, both police departments confirm to PEOPLE.

At the W. Wheatland Road address, Omar Lucio, 34 “refused to come outside,” per a Dallas police press release, which noted that nearly two hours after officers were called to the scene, Lucio “came outside and was taken into custody” around 3 a.m.

Inside the apartment, officers found a woman who was “unresponsive,” per police, who said that she “died at the scene.”

Lucio was charged with murder and booked into Dallas County Jail later that afternoon, per police and his online Dallas County booking records.

Lucio also faces a dozen additional charges connected to highway racing and a collision involving  serious injury, per the booking records. His bond is set at $1,585,000.

Dallas police declined to provide additional information on the case, but family of the deceased woman identified her on a GoFundMe page as Corinna Johnson. On the page, her sister, Érica Hernandez, claimed her death was connected to “domestic violence.”

Family members told Fox 4 that Johnson has a 7-year-old child and had been dating Lucio for six tumultuous years.

Johnson’s aunt, Kathy Gareau, told the outlet, “We would always warn her, ‘You don’t need to be back with him. He’s going to hurt you. He’s going to kill you.'”

At the apartment, officers followed a trail of blood from the front door to the bathroom and into a bedroom closet, where they found Johnson wrapped in Lucio’s bedsheets, Fox 4 reported, citing the arrest warrant affidavit.

Investigators also allegedly found bloody clothes inside Lucio’s car, per the outlet.

According to Fox 4, the woman who called police reporting the death, told officers that Lucio had called her, asking for help in the early hours of Sunday, April 14 and that she went to the apartment around 1:30 a.m.

The woman also reportedly told police that Lucio told her the couple had been drinking at a bar from which they were kicked out and that he had, per court documents obtained by Fox 4, “knocked some sense into her” until she became unresponsive.

Police claim in the arrest affidavit cited by the outlet that Lucio had blood under his fingernails and on one shoe.

The woman, who later told police that Johnson appeared dead, per Fox 4, waited about 24 hours to make the report, according to police.

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Lucio later allegedly told police, per the outlet, that he had “snapped” in the car and attacked her with his bare hands.

PEOPLE reached out to Dallas County District Court to determine Lucio’s next scheduled court date and if he had obtained legal representation, but did not hear back in time for publication.

Describing her sister as “the most bubbly person ever,” Hernandez told Fox 4 that Johnson was “full of joy” and “a ray of sunshine.”

Reflecting on Johnson’s tragic ending, Hernandez told the outlet she hoped her sister’s death could serve as a lesson for others: “If you’re in an abusive relationship, get out now,” Hernandez said. “It’s never going to end.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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