BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A 39-year-old Birmingham man is charged with capital murder in the death of Mekayla Rembert, a 32-year-old mother whose body was found in a burned detached garage in southwest Birmingham days before Christmas, authorities said.
Birmingham police said Justin Seals was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Jefferson County Jail with no bond on a capital murder charge in connection with Rembert’s death, which has been ruled a homicide following a December 23 fire.
Firefighters were called about 8:56 p.m. to a residential structure fire in the 1200 block of 16th Street Southwest, in the West End Manor area, where they found a detached garage on fire, according to Birmingham Fire and Rescue and the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office. After the flames were extinguished, crews discovered Rembert’s remains inside the burned garage, and she was pronounced dead at the scene just after 9 p.m.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office later identified the victim as Rembert, of Birmingham, and determined her death to be a homicide, officials said. The Birmingham Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause and origin of the blaze, while Birmingham police are leading the homicide inquiry.
Police said the department’s Crime Reduction Team took Seals into custody on December 30 as part of the ongoing investigation. Authorities have not publicly released information about a possible motive or whether there was any prior relationship between Seals and Rembert.
As of Thursday, Seals remained held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail on the capital murder charge, and no trial date had been set. The case adds to Birmingham’s late-year homicide investigations as detectives continue to gather evidence in Rembert’s death.