She planned on getting a protective order against her ex. She died before she could.

A 36-year-old woman was planning on getting a protective order against an ex-boyfriend now accused of killing her after he threatened her life earlier this month and slashed her car tires, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

But Kelly Lawson evidently never got that chance.

Police believe that after leaving a friend's house just after midnight Tuesday, Lawson was found and kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend, Jamie Devon Brown.

In the 4900 block of Bellaire Drive in the affluent Overton Woods neighborhood of Fort Worth, Lawson apparently tried to run away from Brown but couldn't.

Her lifeless body was found later that morning, topless and shot multiple times.

"It appeared that her shirt had been torn and pulled down her body as if she was attempting to get away from someone that was trying to prevent her from escaping," homicide Detective M.E. Anderson wrote in the affidavit.

Brown was arrested Wednesday in Longview and faces a capital murder charge. He remained in the Gregg County Jail in East Texas on Friday with bail set at $150,000.

A troubled break-up

Lawson's teen daughters told the Star-Telegram on Thursday that their mother and Brown had dated less than a year and that he'd even lived with them at their house.

But they said the couple broke up about two months ago and that, since that time, Brown had been threatening and harassing their mother.

The daughters told police that on several occasions after being kicked out of their home, Brown had banged on the door, trying to get in, according to the affidavit.

The daughters told investigators they found it strange that when they looked outside, they never saw Brown's maroon Buick.

One of the daughters told investigators she wasn't sure if he would park it down the street or hide it in the alley.

A woman, described by family member as a close friend of Lawson's, told police that Brown had come to her house on June 6 while Lawson was over, threatening to kill Lawson.

She told police that Brown also slashed tires on Lawson's Altima that had been parked outside.

"Ms. Lawson told her that she was going to apply or had applied for a protective order against Jamie," Anderson wrote in the affidavit.

Gregg County court records show it would not be the first time a woman had considered such legal protection from Brown. Twice, once in 2002 and once in 2017, separate women had sought protective orders against him, records show.

Jimmy Pollozani, a Fort Worth police spokesman, said Friday, however, that a records search indicated that Lawson did not have a protective order in place against Brown.

On the night before her body was found, Lawson had gone to her friend's house close to 11 p.m, then left to go home at 12:18 a.m. Tuesday morning.

Her friend told police she walked Lawson outside and watched as she left alone in her Altima.

It would be the last time she saw her friend alive.

Signs of a struggle

Lawson's body was discovered about 5:20 a.m. Tuesday in the grass near the intersection of Bellaire Drive and Ranch View Road.

Area residents told police they heard several loud bangs or possible gunshots about 2 a.m. that morning. One resident said she also heard what she thought was a female screaming.

At the scene, investigators found personal items scattered in the area as if the woman had been running and trying to get away. A purse lay in the middle of the roadway, its contents partially spilled out.

Several feet away lay a half-torn bra and elsewhere, a black flip-flop.

Near where Lawson's topless body was found, another black flip-flop lay next to the curb.

Police found one live and several fired Winchester 9mm Luger cartridges at the scene.

The scene mirrored 13-year-old Baylin Harris's belief that her mother did everything she could to escape.

"I know my mom fought back," the daughter said. "I know she tried to get away. That's why he shot her so many times."

The affidavit indicates that police were still trying to locate Lawson's Altima.

Pollozani said Friday that the car has since been found but did not know when or where it was found.

A sudden departure

On Tuesday afternoon, Detective Anderson called Brown, according to the affidavit.

He answered and claimed he had been visiting his mother, who had cancer, but would be returning to Fort Worth in about 30 minutes to meet with the detective, the affidavit states.

He never showed up, however, and when Anderson later tried to call him, his phone had been turned off, the affidavit states.

Detectives Anderson and Kyle Sullivan went to the home where Brown had been staying since being kicked out of Lawson's home.

A man who had previously been jailed with Brown told investigators that he last saw him Monday night around 9 or 10 p.m. When he awoke the next morning, he said Brown and Brown's Buick were gone.

Another witness told police she'd seen Brown return to the residence that night in a white shirt with blood on it. She said Brown changed his shirt, grabbed a bag of clothes and told her and another witness that he was going to his granny's house.

A search of the room where Brown had been staying uncovered a tennis shoe that appeared to have a large amount of blood on it, the affidavit states.

Police also found a rewards card with Lawson's name on it and four live 9mm Luger cartridges — the same type found at the crime scene, police said.

Brown was arrested at the Gregg County Sheriff's Office Wednesday. Police have said he has admitted to investigators that he shot Lawson.

According to the affidavit, a family member of Brown's had reached out to a Longview officer, concerned that Brown had shown up in Longview acting strange and with blood in his Buick.

This story was originally published June 22, 2018 at 11:52 AM with the headline "She planned on getting a protective order against her ex. She died before she could.."