Boyfriend allegedly murders mother of his child as she is holding their baby

Authorities in Florida arrested a suspect on Friday in the murder of his girlfriend — who he is suspected of strangling with his bare hands as she was holding their child.

An arrest report obtained by WKRG says 53-year-old Henry Steiger told police June 27 that his girlfriend, Cassandra Robinson, 25, left their Pensacola home after their baby’s first birthday party in early February because she was in need of a vacation.

As officials continued to press Steiger about where he thought Robinson may have gone for a vacation, he reportedly told them she may be in Bermuda, adding that she was in need of a getaway from taking care of the baby they shared together. The suspect said he hadn’t contacted the woman and thought she may have obtained money from a friend to pay for the trip.

When asked what he thought may have happened to Robinson, Steiger stated in the arrest report, “She is either not coming back because something is happening or occurred against her will.”

Police, reportedly not believing Steiger’s version of events, dug further—eventually leading them to a tip regarding a storage trailer a friend of the suspect owned. While investigating the storage trailer on July 12, authorities say they smelled human remains and then found a decomposed body located in a green steel drum of the trailer, according to the report.

Tattoos and a rib bone helped identify the body as Robinson. An autopsy to determine the cause of death is still pending.

During the course of the investigation, authorities obtained phone records, which reportedly showed text messages between Steiger and a person he was planning to start a business with, Julian Mesure, from the evening of February 1—the last day Robinson was seen alive.

According to the arrest report, Mesure told detectives that Steiger confessed to killing Robinson in February after she was trying to leave with their baby, saying he strangled her as she held the child in her arms.

According to a report in the Pensacola News Journal, Steiger told police that he had been feeding the baby breast milk from the freezer that Robinson left behind. Pensacola Police said in a news release that the child is now in the custody of Robinson’s relatives.

Steiger is being held without bond on murder charges at the Escambia County Jail, according to court records.