A night of drinking between two Hollywood roommates ended with one of them dead and the other facing a second-degree murder charge. Pedrom Matom, 28, is accused of fatally stabbing 22-year-old Andres Perez inside their Boulevard Heights home early Sunday morning, following an argument that erupted after the two had been drinking together since around 1 a.m.
According to WPLG Local 10, a witness said he had been drinking alcohol with Matom and Perez in his bedroom in the Boulevard Heights neighborhood, near North 72nd Avenue and McKinley Street, before eventually asking the pair to leave his room. Soon after, witnesses reported hearing what sounded like a physical altercation and a door slamming, the outlet reports.
Hollywood police officers responded to the house at 7:45 a.m. Sunday, per the station's report. Witnesses told investigators they saw Matom run out of the house before officers found him nearby holding a Heineken beer, wearing a white t-shirt stained with a significant amount of blood.
Victim Found Bleeding on Bedroom Floor
Inside the home, a witness found Perez face down on the bedroom floor, bleeding from his arm and torso, the same account states. Witnesses also reported seeing blood on the wall leading into Perez's bedroom. Perez was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital, an 863-bed facility that operates as one of South Florida's few Level 1 Trauma Centers, according to Memorial Healthcare System. A doctor pronounced him dead there at about 8:25 a.m.
When police informed Matom that his roommate had died, he showed no emotion, the article notes. He was arrested Sunday and now faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with Perez's death.
Held Without Bond Amid Life-Sentence Exposure
Matom was booked into the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, a maximum-security facility with a capacity of roughly 1,538 inmates operated by the Broward Sheriff's Office, according to JailData.com. Corrections officials are holding him without bond. Because second-degree murder is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison, life on probation, and a $10,000 fine under Florida Statute § 782.04(2), Matom faces the maximum legal exposure the state's homicide laws allow, according to The Florida Senate.
Florida law distinguishes second-degree murder from first-degree murder by the absence of premeditation, requiring prosecutors to prove Matom acted with a “depraved mind” showing no regard for human life rather than advance planning, per the Brancato Law Firm, P.A. That distinction appears to reflect why charges followed a sudden argument rather than any alleged planning. Under Florida's Criminal Punishment Code, the offense carries a severity ranking of Level 10, meaning a conviction would require judges to impose a mandatory minimum sentence of 16.75 years in state prison absent statutory grounds for a downward departure, according to Adams, Luka, & Benton, P.A.
Judge Could Deny Bond Under Florida Constitution
Because the charge is punishable by life imprisonment, Matom can be held without bond before trial if the court finds the proof of guilt evident or the presumption great, under Article I, Section 14 of the Florida Constitution and Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.131. The Florida Senate's own analysis explains that, under the Florida Supreme Court's State v. Arthur precedent, prosecutors must present evidence establishing that high standard during pretrial release hearings.
Broward County Circuit Court Judge Frank Ledee is set to preside over the case. Ledee was appointed to the 17th Judicial Circuit bench in November 2018 after more than 24 years as an Assistant State Attorney in Miami-Dade County, according to information shared on the court's official Facebook page. It remains unclear whether Matom's defense will pursue a self-defense claim or seek a reduced charge of manslaughter, which under Florida Statute § 782.07 is a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and can apply in fatal stabbings involving sudden combat or mutual heat of passion.
Also unresolved is whether physical forensic evidence — such as knife ownership or bloodstain analysis — will corroborate the witness account, and whether prosecutors will modify the charges after further review. The Hollywood Police Department, which operates out of headquarters at 3250 Hollywood Boulevard and employs roughly 450 officers and civilian staff serving a city of more than 150,000 residents, continues to handle the investigation, according to AreaVibes.
