ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WEHT) — The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) arrested 20-year-old Willie Ellington, an active-duty Marine stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola, on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and possession of child pornography. Ellington is the prime suspect in the homicide of Tshey Bennett, whose body was discovered in a pond in an abandoned neighborhood in Mobile, Alabama.
ECSO investigators began their search for Bennett, who was reported missing on Saturday. The investigation revealed that Bennett, working as an escort, had met Ellington at Sweet Dreams Inn shortly before her disappearance.
The Marine Corps confirmed that Ellington, a private first class with Marine Aviation Training Support Group-23 (MATSg-23), had been assigned to NAS Pensacola. MATSg-23 specializes in aviation, cyber, explosive ordnance disposal, and combatant dive training.
While Bennett’s body was found in Alabama, ECSO believes the homicide took place within their jurisdiction in Escambia County, and her body was later dumped across state lines. The Mobile Police Department assisted in the investigation, with ECSO leading the case.
