ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The State Attorney is now seeking the death penalty for a man who allegedly stalked and killed his wife.
Derrek Wayne Perkins, 41 is accused of killing Brandi Brooker Perkins, 35 one day after she filed an injunction. The stabbing took place in Hastings back on October 12.
According to the arrest report, Brandi was driven home by a friend to a home on Irving Street near Hastings. She got out when she thought it was safe but then was confronted by Perkins on the porch. Witnesses say she yelled “help me” multiple times before dying from multiple stab wounds.
Just four days prior to the murder, Perkins was accused of trying to run Brandi over in a gas station parking lot just steps from her work. Then on the day of the murder, witnesses tell deputies Perkins walked into the restaurant and took Brandi’s purse with $500 inside.
The State Attorney said that this crime was “both heinous, atrocious, or cruel AND committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner.”
“The defendant savagely stabbed the Victim approximately 14 times as she pleaded for her life. He lay in wait until she arrived with her co-worker/friend and sprung from his hiding place to carry out the brutal and deadly murder. The defendant’s violent past and penchant for savagery and violence has earned him the ultimate penalty," State Attorney R.J. Larizza said.