These Cops… MAAAAN!
By: Tommy “Tj” Sotomayor

A Chesapeake woman denies trying to kill her and her boyfriend’s five children in a house fire.

“Why would I want them dead?” Monica Perkins told investigators, according to court documents. “They are my source of income.”

Perkins — who state prosecutors declined to charge in connection with the July 7, 2018, blaze — was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison for an unrelated robbery spree.

Federal prosecutors argued for 10 years in prison. The defense asked for seven.

Neighbors used a ladder to rescue four children — ages 3, 4, 7 and 10 — from the second-floor of a home in the 800 block of Wright Ave. Firefighters later entered the building to save a 6-month-old baby from a first-floor bedroom.

Prosecutors said the baby suffered “serious injuries due to the lack of oxygen.”Previous coverage: Chesapeake mother tried to burn down her home with five children inside, feds say »

The fire was reported about 12:36 p.m. and was under control 23 minutes later. Investigators initially deemed it an accident, determining a sauce pan had been left unattended on the stove.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Butler, however, said earlier this year in court he had information Perkins started the fire in an effort to “reset” her life. He said she was heard a few days before the fire saying something like, “How do you pick which one of your kids get to live?”

Butler said Perkins’ boyfriend, Willey Brooks Jr., saw the stove was on before they left the house the day of the fire and turned it off. But later, he said, Brooks helped Perkins make up a story about his brother being in the house and some miscommunication in an effort to keep her out of trouble.

Perkins was mother to four of the children and Brooks was father to one. It is unclear where the children are now, but prosecutors said Perkins’ “had been removed from her care and were residing with other individuals” at the time of the robberies.

Butler’s comments led Chesapeake police to open an investigation into the fire. Senior Police Officer Leo Kosinski, a department spokesman, said the probe was subsequently closed without the filing of charges.

Chesapeake Commonwealth’s Attorney Nancy Parr explained the “investigation, including witnesses’ statements, did not support charges of arson or of leaving the children alone.”

Perkins and Brooks pleaded guilty earlier this year to multiple felonies relating to a series of three grocery store robberies last year in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Brooks was sentenced to 18 years in prison for his larger role in the scheme.

According to court documents filed with their respective guilty pleas, the couple participated directly in the first robbery. On Sept. 25, 2018, they served as lookouts inside a Food Lion on Bainbridge Boulevard in Chesapeake. At Brooks’ direction, others then entered the store, approached an employee and demanded money.

The crew walked away with $4,880, of which Perkins received $700, according to court documents.

Brooks was arrested on unrelated charges shortly after the robbery, but stayed involved in the scheme while behind bars. Perkins spoke with him by phone, referring to their co-conspirators as “minions” and expressing concerns about whether they could trust them.

“On one occasion, she laughed about having just scoped out a Food Lion that would be good for a robbery and even offered to oversee a future robbery to make sure she and Brooks were not cheated by their co-conspirators,” Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bird wrote in court documents. “While this defendant may not have been the brains behind the operation, these jail calls suggest that she was an enthusiastic participant.”

Bird argued Perkins deserved a 10 year sentence in part because she has a documented history of “homicidal tendencies towards humans and animals.”

Over the years, she has been hospitalized for threatening to stab a family member with a knife and admitted to abusing a dog out of anger, Bird said. “Reports” also indicate she killed a cat in a dryer and has “engaged in fire setting behavior three times,” she said.

Robert Foley, Perkins’ attorney, asked the court for seven years, arguing his client’s “upbringing was something out of a bad after-school special.”

“To state that her early and formidable years were dysfunctional and chaotic would be a severe understatement.” he said, explaining both of her parents were drug addicts who had limited involvement with her.

He said she was “psychologically tormented” by her grandmother and physically abused by her aunt for several years. At 11, she started bouncing around to different foster homes, treatment centers, and group homes.

In all, she lived with 18 different foster families.

Despite such a difficult childhood, Perkins largely stayed out of legal trouble as an adult, Foley said. He added that she now realizes the error of her ways and is interested in availing herself in prison of intensive counseling, mental health treatment and vocational training.

“The only thing that matters to her is to serve her time in prison, get out and spend as much time as she can with her children,” he said. “Ms. Perkins is ready, willing and motivated to improve her station in life and provide a better example for her children upon her release.”

Foley declined to comment on the fire investigation.

Before handing down his sentence, U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson repeatedly referred to Perkins’ “untreated bipolar disorder.” He urged her to seek treatment in prison, and to participate in a vocational program so she can better care for herself and her children.

“You need to find a way to live independent of your male friends and public assistance,” Jackson said.