FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Investigators are looking into whether an arson suspect arrested late last week is involved in the murder of his pregnant girlfriend.
Keith Martin Perkins, 26, is locked up at the Main Jail in Broward County, and on Monday a judge decided to raise his bond from $20,000 to $30,000.
Records show Hollywood police arrested Perkins on Friday on arson charges.
Detectives haven’t said if his arrest is connected to the homicide victim found dead in the trunk of a burning car on Thomas Street on April 18.
It was only after firefighters put out the flames that they found the body of Jasmine Guillaime, 25, in the car. According to loved ones, Guillaime was Perkins’ girlfriend and she had apparently just learned she was pregnant with her first child.
It’s unclear if Perkins was the father.
Perkins has not been charged in Guillaime’s death. He faces two counts of first-degree arson.
Prosecutors say the car Perkins set fire to is close to the home of someone he knows personally.
Perkins has a lengthy rap sheet, with past arrests for grand theft, burglary, criminal mischief and resisting without violence.
At one point Monday, Perkins tried to speak during his bond hearing, but it was suggested that he not speak until after his lawyer.
Guillaime’s family and friends have held several candlelight vigils to honor her memory and demand that her killer be brought to justice.
“She believes they would have died,” says a prosecutor, referring to the woman whose home caught fire near a burning car on Thomas St. Keith Perkins is charged with arson after @HollywoodFLPD says he set the car on fire. Perkins’ pregnant girlfriend was found dead in the car. pic.twitter.com/0jShbq7F7g
— Madeleine Wright (@MWrightWPLG) May 17, 2021