An active-duty Marine was arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of a 26-year-old reality TV star, whose body was found in a pond over 50 miles from her last known location. Willie Richard Ellington, 20, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder of reality TV star Tshey Bennett, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office announced on Saturday.
Ellington, who was stationed at NAS Pensacola on Florida's Gulf Coast, is currently being held at the Lee County Detention Facility in Opelika, Alabama. Ellington is also facing charges of possessing child pornography following his arrest on Thursday. Bennett appeared on the first season of the HollyHoodTV series Skrippa Bootcamp earlier this year.
Chilling Murder
Bennett had been reported missing just days before her body was found in a pond over 50 miles away in Mobile, Alabama, on Thursday. According to police, Ellington is accused of killing Bennett after the two met at the Sweet Dreams Inn in Pensacola around 4 p.m. on Friday.
Authorities suspect that Bennett was working as an escort when she encountered her alleged killer.
Due to the "suspicious circumstances" surrounding her disappearance, investigators from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office began treating her case as a potential homicide.
Sheriff Jay Jones of Lee County commended the investigative work of his team and the Escambia County authorities, noting that a tip-off directed law enforcement to the suspect.
"Escambia County investigators tipped us off their suspect might be on a bus scheduled to stop in Opelika," Jones told WKRG.
"Our team quickly scrambled to the station and set up a surveillance operation. When the bus arrived, investigators spotted and apprehended a man matching the suspect's description."
Officials then found Bennett's body, who they believe was killed in Northwest Florida before being oddly dumped in Mobile.
Mystery Still Remains Unsolved
Authorities have not disclosed how Bennett's body came to be in the pond or provided details about the exact cause and manner of her death. "Throughout 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.
Muranda Newson, a close friend of Bennett, shared an emotional tribute to the 26-year-old mother and her son on Facebook, writing, "I hate that I am typing this. I hate that handsome boy who is hurting.
"I really really hate someone did this to you baby you didn't deserve this at all. So sweet so smart so about your money baby I just don't understand," she wrote.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office has not provided any additional details about the case at this time.
