TAMARAC, Fla. – A 29-year-old woman was found dead after an apartment fire in Tamarac early Tuesday morning; her family members tell Local 10 News they believe her ex-boyfriend murdered her.
The fire broke out at around 3:30 a.m. in a unit at 7900 S. Colony Circle, part of the Versailles Gardens condominium complex, located near the corner of West McNab Road and North University Drive.
“It was really smoky, it was like something that you’d see sowing out of a chimney, it was like tons of smoke,” neighbor Winder Guerrier said.
Family members of the woman identified her as Keera Brabham, a mother of a 4-year-old child.
“We’re distraught. Yesterday was Christmas,” Stephanie Gladman, Brabham’s sister, said. “You do this to someone’s family during the holidays, you got to pay.”
While officials have said little about the cause of the fire and the woman’s cause of death, Gladman said she and other family members believe that Brabham’s ex-boyfriend set the fire. They think he attacked and killed her during a fit of jealousy after coming home Monday night, having gone out with a group of friends.
“She broke up with this guy about three or four weeks ago and listen, if you had a problem, you had to hit her, but if you did, why kill her?” Juliet Brabham, Keera’s mother, said. “She has a 4-year-old child that we have to raise now and we have to tell him that his mother is gone. It’s not fair.”
“He must have came back here and something must have happened (because) the neighbors say they heard an argument and then a fire, so that’s very suspicious,” said Gladman. “She didn’t deserve this. If somebody doesn’t want to be with you, leave that person alone, don’t try to control them.
Several people who live in the building told Local 10 News that are unable to stay in their homes because of smoke or water damage.
A city spokesperson said the woman was the only person in the apartment at the time and said the fire was contained to her unit.
“We (saw) a lady getting dragged out in like a stretcher or something and I don’t know if her body was burned or anything, but it didn’t look good,” Guerrier said.
Officials said they’re working to determine the cause of the blaze. BSO homicide detectives were also at the scene.
11 p.m. report