An active-duty Marine has been arrested in connection with a gruesome murder that left a 26-year-old reality TV star washed up dead in a pond more than 50 miles from her last known location.
Willie Richard Ellington, 20, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of reality TV star Tshey Bennett on Saturday. according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.
He was stationed at NAS Pensacola on Florida’s Gulf Coast and is now being held at the Lee County Detention Facility in Oplikea, Alabama.
He is also charged with possession of child pornography, following his arrest Thursday.
Bennett, who appeared on season one of the HollyHoodTV series Skrippa Bootcamp earlier this year, was reported missing just days before police found her deceased body in a pond more than 50 miles away in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday.
The 20-year-old Marine allegedly killed the then-missing Bennett after the pair met at the Sweet Dreams Inn in Pensacola on Friday around 4 p.m., police said.
Police believe Bennett was working as an escort at the time she met her alleged killer.
Following the “suspicious circumstances” surrounding her disappearance, investigators with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office began investigating her case as a possible homicide.
Willie Richard Ellington, 20, stationed at NAS Pensacola on Florida’s Gulf Coast, was arrested Saturday and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of reality TV star Tshey Bennett
Bennett, who appeared earlier this year on season one of the HollyHoodTV series Skrippa Bootcamp, was reported missing just days before police found her deceased body in a pond 50 miles away in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones praised his office and Escambia County’s investigative efforts, revealing that a tip led responding authorities to the suspect.
“Escambia County detectives tipped us off that their suspect may have been on a bus that was scheduled to stop in Opelika,” Jones said. WKRG.
“Our team quickly rushed to the station and set up a surveillance operation. When the bus arrived, investigators observed and arrested a man matching the suspect’s description.”
It was then that officials found the body of Bennett, who they believe was murdered in Northwest Florida before her body was strangely dumped in Mobile.
Police have not specified how Bennett’s body ended up in the pond, nor have they revealed the exact cause and manner of her death.
“During the investigation, it was determined that Tshey Bennett was working as an escort and had met the suspect at the Sweet Dreams Inn at the time of her disappearance,” police said in a statement.
The 20-year-old Marine allegedly killed the then-missing Bennett after the pair met at the Sweet Dreams Inn (pictured) in Pensacola on Friday around 4 p.m.
A close friend of Bennett’s, Muranda Newson, posted a heartfelt tribute to the 26-year-old mother and her son on Facebook: “I hate typing this. I hate that pretty boy in pain.
“I really, really hate that someone did this to you, honey, you didn’t deserve this at all. So sweet, so smart, on your money, baby, I just don’t understand,” she wrote.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has not released any further information about the case at this time.