Pinellas Park murder suspect denied bond in death of girlfriend

A 48-year-old Bay area man charged with killing his girlfriend following a domestic argument made his first appearance before a judge Sunday morning.

Luis Antonio Santiago-Maldonado was denied bond. He is being held in the Pinellas County Jail on one count of first-degree murder.

Belinda Joyce Thomas was struck and killed by a vehicle the suspect was driving early Saturday two blocks from a residence the couple shared in Pinellas Park.

The 36-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene just before 2 a.m. Santiago-Maldonado fled the scene on foot and was apprehended several hours later.

According to a Pinellas Park Police Department report officers found Thomas at the intersection of 60^th St. North and 82^nd Terrace North.

Investigators say the victim and the suspect got into an argument at their home and when Thomas ran he got into his 2004 Dodge and followed her.

This is not Santiago-Maldonado's first brush with law enforcement in Pinellas County. In 2008 he was arrested by Pinellas Park Police on a domestic battery charge and two years later St. Petersburg Police charged him with domestic battery.