NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A South Florida man accused of setting his girlfriend on fire this week appeared in court Tuesday via Zoom, at which time he was ordered held without bond.
During the hearing, prosecutors said Noe Jimenez-Cortes had purchased a bus ticket to Mexico for Tuesday.
According to the Broward Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to the 4300 block of Northwest 54th Street in North Lauderdale around 4:30 a.m. Monday after the incident.
“All you heard was ‘knock, knock’ through the wall,” neighbor Jamila Navarrete told Local 10 News.
Navarrete said she could hear her neighbor scream for help after she was set on fire.
“She probably could have been banging and trying to open the door, as well,” Navarrete said.
The victim apparently took off down the street when no one answered, and ended up at another neighbor’s home.
The neighbor, identified only as Norma, said the victim was outside her front door, pleading for someone to call the police and saying that she was dying.
“She was burned on 99% of her body,” a prosecutor told the judge Tuesday. “The only two places on her body that were not burned were the soles of her feet and one part of her ankle.”
Authorities said Jimenez-Cortes set his girlfriend on fire by pouring an accelerant on her and then igniting the fire with a cigarette.
The victim, whose identity has not been released, was taken to a hospital where she remains in critical condition.
Prosecutors said doctors do not expect the woman to survive.
Anyone with further information about the incident is asked to call Detective Robert Rausch at 954-321-4234. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477.