The prolonged pursuit of a man wanted for a harrowing act of violence in 2021 has come to a conclusion, as St. Petersburg authorities reported the capture of Benjamin "Bambi" Williams. Williams, now 41, faced arrest in Mexico City after evading law enforcement for over three years, accused of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend, Joana Peca, in front of their children. The arrest was a result of a TikTok video repost that generated a critical tip from a citizen, police stated today.

Details provided by the St. Petersburg Police Department confirm that on a July evening in 2021, Williams confronted Peca at the Woodlawn Memorial Gardens cemetery, where he allegedly shot her multiple times in the face as she held their infant son, with their four-year-old child looking on from the van's backseat. FOX 13 News reports that a $25,000 reward was issued in the wake of her murder and that the breakthrough came when someone in Mexico recognized Williams from the social media post and informed the St. Pete Police.

"After seeing the video last week, they reportedly recognized Williams and told St. Pete Police that he was living in Mexico," WTSP cited. U.S. Marshals facilitated his extradition back to the U.S., and a local detective, along with a Pinellas County deputy, drove to Miami to transport Williams to the Pinellas County Jail. Facing charges of first-degree murder and child abuse, he is currently detained without bond.

Amidst the search that spanned years and continents, it was not high-profile investigations nor televised crime stories that ended the manhunt. Instead, it was the vigilance of a woman in Mexico and the power of social media that positioned the case in the realm of resolution. "But it was a social media post discovered by a woman in Mexico who recognized Williams that led to his arrest," relayed a report from Tampa Bay Times. The police chief expressed on the day of Peca’s murder that the children were found unharmed but "terrified."