Bridgette Harveston, 31 was strangled to death by former tennis star Benson Harrison O'Brien III, 35

Bridgette Harveston, 31

Benson Harrison O'Brien III, 35, once a top-ranked tennis player in Louisiana, turned himself in to police on the afternoon of his girlfriend's death, on unrelated warrants for theft.

Police say 31-year-old Bridgette Harveston, the mother of O'Brien's newborn son, Liam Patrick O'Brien, was found strangled in the home on Pat O'Brien Road in Covington hours earlier.

O'Brien is the grandson of Benson Harrison 'Pat' O'Brien, who founded New Orleans' famous French Quarter bar Pat O'Brien's in 1933.

Police responding to a neighbor's 911 call for help the morning of May 7, after a tip-off from someone inside the home, reported finding 'signs of an apparent struggle,' according to NOLA.com.

Ms Harveston, who has two other young boys in addition to the two-month-old, was taken to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead.

An autopsy revealed she died from strangulation and experienced blunt force trauma to both her face and head. 

On Saturday the charge of second-degree murder was added to O'Brien's previous five counts of theft.

According to the Times-Picayune, the victim's father, Blake Harveston, had previously advised his daughter to leave O'Brien because of his criminal background.

His list of offenses includes felony theft, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal possession of a weapon, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and simple burglary, reports NOLA.com.

The charges stretch between 1999 and 2011 with O'Brien having spent five years in prison for felony theft in 2003 and receiving a four-year sentence in 1999, with recommendation of the Intensive Motivational Program of Alternative Correctional Treatment program for the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.