Social media platform TikTok has helped US police solve a case and arrest a suspect who shot and killed a woman three years ago. according to cnnThe suspect, identified as Benjamin Williams, allegedly murdered his estranged girlfriend Joanna Peca in Florida three years ago. US Marshals arrested him in Mexico City after a TikTok user recognized him from a photo in a video. The clip was posted by Jasmine Alexander, a TikTok influencer who has over 2.8 million followers on her true-crime account. The video showed a Florida news channel’s coverage of the murder and the search for the suspect.
Williams, 41, shot Joanna Peca in the face in July 2021, police said. He convinced her to meet him in a cemetery in St. Petersburg. He told her he wanted to meet his infant son, but as she sat in the van with the child, Williams allegedly shot her multiple times in the face, killing her. Ms Peka’s older son, 4, was also inside the vehicle at the time but neither child was injured.
According to the police, Ms Peka was holding her 4-month-old son in her lap when the incident occurred. At the same time, his elder son saw the entire incident from behind.
Now, three years after the incident, Williams has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse. He is being held without bond in the Pinellas County Jail. cnn Informed.
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Ms Peka’s family is grateful she has been arrested. “I feel like a Christmas present came early this year for me and my young children and I couldn’t have asked for anything more than a phone call from the police department,” said Eleni Peka, the victim’s mother. Independent,
He said, “Three years and three months is too long. He was on the run, but he could no longer hide. All eyes were on him and finally, he is behind bars where he belongs.”
Separately, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway told Ms. Pekka’s family: “Nothing we do can compensate for the loss of your daughter, but at least, we have a dangerous individual off the street. “
“At least one loving mother… and family can now know that she is in our custody. She belongs where she belongs, behind bars,” the police chief said.