Alex Sanders, 38, has been charged with second-degree murder after police say he beat partner Amy Cancienne to death

A father has been charged with beating the mother of his two sons to death after accusing her of sleeping with another man.

Alex Sanders, 38, was charged with second-degree murder Monday after 37-year-old Amy Cancienne was found dead inside his home in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner last month.

Police believe Sanders beat Cancienne in the backyard of their home on the night before she died, leaving her with a lacerated liver that ultimately proved fatal.

Cancienne was a mother-of-six who had two sons with Sanders, aged 2 and 3.

An autopsy found she had suffered a history of violence. Her body was covered in bruises and she had 20 broken ribs in various stages healing, NOLA reported.

Neighbors said Sanders beat her almost continuously throughout their six year relationship, and at least three times a week.

The beatings had intensified in recent weeks, witnesses said, after Saunders had accused Cancienne of sleeping with another man.

A witness told officers that Sanders had been 'whipping her ass' in the backyard of their property on November 11.

The neighbor said they heard Cancienne begging for him to stop.

Emergency services were called to the property the following day to reports of an unresponsive woman on the couch.

Police say he beat her in the backyard of their home on this street in Kenner, a suburb of New Orleans, so badly that she suffered a lacerated liver and died of internal bleeding

When they arrived they found Cancienne was stiff and cold to the touch, and pronounced her dead.

Other residents at the house said Cancienne, who had a history of homelessness, had come home drunk around 3am, taken six packets of headache medicine, and then laid down.

She had a history of medical problems and drug abuse, they said.

Sanders was not at home at the time, and claimed he had been out cutting grass outside a convenience store.

But CCTV footage showed Sanders had not been outside the store as he claimed, and after the autopsy showed Cancienne died of internal bleeding he was arrested.