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Police in Copperas Cove, where the attack occurred, refused to release an incident report, but a story in the Killeen Daily Herald said officers observed several fresh injuries on Short.

"There doesn't seem to be much to it," said Brian Novie, who lives in nearby Copperas Cove.

When she discovered she was pregnant, she traveled to an abortion clinic in Austin, about 60 miles south of where she lived in Copperas Cove, a city of 37,000 where nearly everyone works on Fort Hood, the nearby military base.

For months, G and Cecil had been trying to find a place of their own in Copperas Cove, but without any credit history, they were poor candidates.

She wanted to party and celebrate her graduation, leave Copperas Cove, get an apartment of her own and comfortably support herself.