A 20-year-old active-duty Marine, Willie Ellington, has been taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder and possession of child pornography following the discovery of a reality TV star’s body in a pond in Mobile, Alabama, earlier this week.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office in Pensacola, Florida, reported that Ellington was charged on Wednesday after the remains of 26-year-old Tshey Bennett were found in a pond within an abandoned area of Mobile. Bennett, who appeared earlier this year on the HollyHoodTV show Skrippa Bootcamp, which focuses on exotic dancers, had been reported missing over the weekend. Investigators began treating her disappearance as a potential homicide before her body was located.
Authorities revealed that Bennett had been working as an escort and had met Ellington at the Sweet Dream Inn in Pensacola shortly before she went missing. The hotel is situated near NAS Pensacola, where Ellington was stationed. Investigators disclosed that Bennett’s car and phone were left at the inn, with her room door open and the bed linens missing. Officials traced a rental car used by Ellington to Alabama, where Bennett’s body was discovered.
Ellington was apprehended on Wednesday while attempting to flee on a bus in Opelika, Alabama, according to PIO Morgan Lewis. After his arrest, disturbing Google searches made by the suspect were uncovered, including inquiries such as, “Can someone scream while being strangled?” and “How does a dead body look after two days?”
Another search reportedly asked about the likelihood of solving homicide cases involving sex workers. Ellington, a private first class with the Marine Aviation Training Support Group-23, joined the Marine Corps earlier this year, according to Capt. Jacoby Getty. In a statement to Military.com, Getty confirmed that Training Command is cooperating fully with local authorities in the ongoing investigation.
