A South Florida man was in bond court Wednesday, accused of trapping his mother in her Southwest Miami-Dade house and setting it on fire.
Gamaliel Pedraza faces charges of attempted felony murder, first-degree arson and false imprisonment.
On Sunday, Miami-Dade police got calls of a house on fire on Southwest 305th Terrace. When they got there, they saw a woman standing behind a locked metal door screaming for help.
Once firefighters pried open the door, both the woman and Pedraza got out. Then detectives say Pedraza pulled a knife from his underwear.
“The male was armed with a knife and was holding that knife up to his neck," said Miami-Dade Police spokesperson Carlos Rosario.
Pedraza told officers he was going to kill himself. It took police negotiators three hours to convince Pedraza to surrender.
A judge ordered Pedraza be held without bond pending his trial.
