By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-15 23:04:48 | Updated at 2024-12-26 01:13:34
1 week ago
A years-long manhunt for a man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend has finally come to end after a TikTok video helped crack the case.
Joana Peca, 27, was shot dead while holding her baby in her arms in St. Petersburg, Florida, on July 31, 2021.
Police believe her ex-boyfriend Benjamin 'Bambi' Robert Williams, 41, had lured her to the Woodlawn Memory Gardens cemetery so he could see his infant son.
Then, while she was sitting in the van with her baby on her lap and her four-year-old son in the back seat, she was shot multiple times in the face. Neither child was hurt.
The accused murderer, Williams, fled the scene and had been on the run for nearly three-and-a-half years - until a TikTok post caught the attention of a Good Samaritan.
Jasmeen Alexander had shared a video clip of original reporting on the case on her true crime TikTok page, which is followed by 2.8 million followers.
Police said that someone recognized the accused killer and turned him in.
He was then arrested in Mexico City by St. Petersburg Police Department on November 30 and has since been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse.
Joana Peca, 27, was shot dead while holding her baby in her arms St. Petersburg, Florida , on July 31, 2021
Benjamin 'Bambi' Robert Williams, 41, was taken into custody in Mexico City by the St. Petersburg Police Department on November 30 for allegedly shooting Joana Peca, 27, in 2021
Incredibly, the TikTok video was originally posted just 10 days after the shooting in August 2021.
Despite this, someone spotted his picture in the news report last month and notified the US Embassy in Mexico.
Alexander, who lives in Alabama, said: 'The fact that her four-year-old was in the backseat. She was holding her baby. I have a newborn baby myself, so it just really was like, I really need to get this out there
'When it comes to social media, your video can hit at any point in time,' she told Fox13.
The true crime poster revealed that she had been contacted by detectives on who explained her video had helped them solve the case on December 1.
'It's crazy, unexplainable,' Alexander said. 'But, I mean, it was just meant to happen like that, I guess. You really can't explain it.'
'I cover so many cases every day, and it's really heartbreaking, especially her case because her kids were in the car and I'm a mom. So, it really made me feel good that I could help bring some closure to her family,' the TikToker told KBTX.
The victim's mother, Eleni Peca said of the arrest: 'Instead of going and finding a white dress for my daughter's wedding, I was going and finding the white casket to bury my daughter.
'I'm always gonna miss her smiles. I'm gonna miss my daughter being around me, being around her kids and playing with her kids.
'Three years and three months is too long. He was running, but he couldn't hide anymore. All eyes on him, and finally, he is behind bars where he belongs.'
Peca was sitting in the van with her baby on her lap and her four-year-old son in the back seat, she was shot multiple times in the face. Neither child was hurt
Jasmeen Alexander had shared a video clip of original reporting on the case on her true crime TikTok page, which is followed by 2.8 million followers
The true crime poster revealed that she was contacted by detectives who explained her video had helped them solve the case on on December 1
The victim's mother, Eleni Peca said of the arrest: 'Three years and three months is too long. He was running, but he couldn't hide anymore. All eyes on him, and finally, he is behind bars where he belongs'
Williams has been charged with first degree murder and two counts of child abuse
St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said during a press conference: 'A dangerous criminal no longer poses a threat to the community or the family because they were nervous he was going to come back and try to harm the family'
'I feel a Christmas present for me and my little boys came early this year, and I couldn't ask for more than that phone call I got from the police department,' she added.
St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said: 'A dangerous criminal no longer poses a threat to the community or the family, because they were nervous he was going to come back and try to harm the family.
'Nothing can replace the loss of your daughter, but at least we have a dangerous person off the street.
'At least a loving mother, a loving daughter and the family can know now that we have him in custody.'
A warrant had been issued for Williams at the time of the crime.
With the help of the US Marshals Service, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms & Explosives and Crime Stoppers of Pinellas County, officials were offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information that would lead to his arrest.
The suspect was also a featured fugitive on the show 'In Pursuit with John Walsh' in 2022.
The US Marshals Service transported the suspect from Mexico to Miami where he was then taken to the Pinellas County Jail. He is currently being held without bond.
