SOUTH BEND — Police say a woman found dead in a South Bend house after a fire early Tuesday morning may have been murdered. The woman’s friends believe their friend may have died at the hands of an abusive ex-boyfriend.

Just before 3:30 a.m., police got a 911 call from a house in the 1700 blockk of Catalpa, about a man "covered in blood." Minutes after that first call, firefighters were called to another nearby home in the 2000 block of Kendall Street.

While fighting the fire, they found 29-year-old Dawn Brooks. St. Joseph County Metro Homicide detectives said medics discovered injuries on her body they don't think came from the fire.

Brooks’ friends are remembering a kind, outgoing woman and wondering if they could have done more to prevent her death.

“I couldn’t, I don’t know how to explain it,” said Misty Mann. "[I’m] still shocked."

Shocked and saddened at the loss, Brooks’ friends tried to piece together her final hours.

“I spoke with her at 12:30 [this morning],” said Mikelle Jaquish. “She said she was in a car with her boyfriend. She seemed pretty happy.”

Police said the first 911 call came from the home on Catalpa Street. A man who lives there told WSBT he knew the young man who knocked on his door. He also said one of the man’s arms was bloody.

South Bend Police Capt. Phil Trent said another 911 call came in a short time later for the fire at the Kendall Street address.

Both police and Brooks’ friends said they don't think the fire killed her. Police records show there may have been a history of violence and abuse.

“It’s a boyfriend of a few months,” explained Cindy Mann.

“I had been there to witness him beating her on multiple occasions and we always had to stop him,” said Jaquish. “And the reason she stuck with him was because he said he was going to kill her if she decided to leave him.”

Police were called to Brooks' house March 19. They say a man Brooks called her ex-boyfriend was arrested for assault and battery after allegedly slapping her across the face. Then on April 2, police filed a report saying the ex-boyfriend held Brooks at gunpoint.

"Guns to the head, knives to the throat, he actually held her down one time and beat her with his knees in her chest," Jaquish said.

She also said Brooks had a plan to leave.

"She said there was no hope until she got money to move away, and that was on the first of May," remembered Jaquish.

But now their friend is gone, and they're hoping police find the killer.

"They need to find him bad, he needs to be put away somewhere," said Misty Mann, another one of Brooks' friends. "Taking a life, nobody deserves to lose a life."

Police aren't saying at this point if that boyfriend is a suspect in the case, but late Tuesday afternoon, they released his name and photograph, saying they want to bring Julius Anderson, 25, in for questioning.

Police told WSBT they're not sure if Anderson is the same man who showed up a few blocks away on Catalpa Street, covered in blood. If you know Anderson's wherabouts, call the South Bend Police Department at (574) 235-9361; investigator James Taylor at the Metro Homicide office at (574) 235-5009; or Crime Stoppers at (574) 288-STOP.