Father stabbed mother in head before Riviera Beach apartment fire

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — 

A man accused of setting fire to an apartment complex in Riviera Beach with children trapped inside, stabbed their mother in the head during a fight, minutes before flames ripped through the apartment, police said.

The fire happened Friday night at the Stonybrook Apartment complex on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Riviera Beach. Authorities believe the fire began in the living room on two couches, likely from an accelerant.

Video shared to CBS12 showed people breaking through the locked apartment door to rescue two young children trapped inside. Riviera Beach firefighters found the third child, a one-month-old girl, underneath a door. It may have saved her life, firefighters said Saturday.

Velmando Williams, the father of two of the woman's children, her 3-and-1-year-old sons, is accused of setting the fire.

Police wrote in the arrest report the woman, after being stabbed by Williams, ran out of the apartment half-naked to get help.

Below is dramatic 911 call while the Stonybrook Apartment fire was still blazing.

Williams, according to the report, claimed her relatives attacked him as he tried to leave the complex by jumping through a kitchen window. He told police he didn't know about the fire, but saw smoke coming from the apartment.

Police asked Williams why he didn't go back for his children if he saw fire. Williams said he just got into an argument with the mother and didn't want to go back.

Williams, 22, is facing charges of attempted murder, false imprisonment, simple domestic battery, and first degree arson. He's being held without bond.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Los Arboles Apartments - 17 Photos - Apartments - 201 4th St, Del Mar, Del Mar, CA - Phone Number

8 201 4th St Del Mar , CA 92014 (858) 481-9585 Been here for 5 months now. These are definitely old apartments; the floorplans aren't modern or laid out super efficiently. But if you want to live within line-of-sight to the ocean, this place is as affordable as it gets. The manager is hands-down one of the nicest dudes I've met and has been extremely accommodating to us. Although the property is old, it's clean and decently kept up. The pool and hot tub are nice. We're on the 2nd floor in a corner unit and it's been very quiet for us. We haven't had any issues with bugs or vermin of any sort; in fact, we keep our porch door wide open all day long so our kitties can get some fresh air. This results in maybe 1 fly per day inside. There are surfer trails very nearby that lead down the cliffs for beach access. Bottom line, if you're looking for luxury, don't live here. It's too old to ever be luxurious. But if you're looking for line-of-sight to t
Read more

Charlotte affordable housing forum raises possible solutions

There’s a big demand for more affordable housing in Charlotte, where rents and home prices have shot up much faster than wages over the past few years. Many of the apartments being built now target more affluent renters, waitlists for housing vouchers are long and starter homes are snapped up almost immediately. So why aren’t developers building more affordable housing ? That was one of the main questions at a candidate education panel hosted by the Greater Charlotte Apartment Association on Friday, where about two dozen candidates for Charlotte City Council turned out to learn some of the basics on a complicated subject. “ Affordable housing is one of the topics you’ll talk about a lot,” Bryan Holladay, who supervises the group’s government affairs outreach , told the candidates. The subject is an alphabet soup of acronyms (like NOAH, or “ Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing ”) and overlapping terms and definitions. Sometimes when people say “ affordable housing ” they mean go
Read more

Parents of Student Murdered by Maintenance Man Sue Apartment Complex

He pleaded guilty to murder late last year, now the case of a maintenance worker who killed a Blinn student is back in court. The parents of 20-year-old Jenna Verhaalen are suing the Bryan apartment complex where she was killed. Verhaalen was strangled at the Autumn Woods Apartments in 2008, by 27-year-old maintenance worker Jeremiah Rosser . The suit claims Autumn Woods ignored complaints made about Rosser. Specifically, a complaint they claim Jenna made to Rosser's boss, when he entered her apartment while she was in the shower. The suit alleges the complex's negligence led to Jenna's death. Attorneys for Autumn woods said management had no reason to believe Rosser was a risk. However, that's not what the complex's corporate office told News Three in 2008. Back then, a spokesperson said Jenna complained to the maintenance supervisor about Jeremiah Rosser , but never filed a complaint with the office. Rosser quit his job at Autumn Woods several day
Read more