A disturbing incident unfolded in Colorado where a man has been accused of murdering the mother of his children and transporting her body in a shopping cart for several days before discarding it in a trash can, according to local authorities.

Thomas Perales, 38, faces charges including first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, habitual domestic violence, and two counts of violating a protection order, as announced by the 17th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. More details can be found on the office’s website.

The Westminster Police Department disclosed on December 4 their investigation into a “suspicious” death near Willowbrook Park, located in Westminster, a suburb north of Denver. The victim was identified as 37-year-old Annette Valdez, and her death is being treated as a homicide, according to a police statement.

Local news sources, including CBS affiliate KMVT, report that Valdez’s body was discovered in a trash can at the park. It is believed she had been deceased for up to six days before being found.

Perales, who is identified as Valdez’s former partner and the father of her children, was taken into custody on December 5. He was reportedly the last individual seen with her before her death.

Perales, who was homeless, allegedly had been “pushing her around in a shopping cart to get her from place to place” before telling a witness he left her by a creek, leading to the discovery of the body. The defendant allegedly told police upon being arrested that he killed Valdez and then “paraded her around.”

It is unclear what the victim’s cause of death was.

Adam Larson, Valdez’s brother, indicated his sister was the victim of years of domestic abuse.

“We tried so much to get her away from him, and every single time she went right back to him,” he told KMVT. “All she could say is, ‘That’s my kid’s father.’”

“I had a feeling it was him,” Larson added.

The most recent investigation into domestic violence occurred after Valdez called her mother as she looked at Perales through a Ring camera, according to authorities. The defendant was reportedly trying to break into her apartment, damaging the door, and rubbing paint on the camera.

Perales had just been released from jail on Nov. 21, and Valdez’s family saw her death as preventable and a result of the system failing.

“She didn’t have the resources that she needed to be able to feel that safety,” Analisa Larson, Adam Larson’s wife, told area Fox affiliate KDVR. “I think they hand you a piece of paper and say, ‘here is a protection order’ … well what do you do with that when he keeps coming back?”

Valdez is remembered in a GoFundMe as having been “a beloved daughter, sister, mother, and friend, taken from us far too soon due to domestic violence.”

“Our family is devastated beyond words, struggling to come to terms with this unimaginable tragedy,” the fundraiser goes on. “Annette was a light in our lives—her kindness, laughter, and love touched everyone who knew her.”