Eleni Peca’s phone buzzed with a call she had feared would never come.
The man accused of killing her only child, Joana Peca, three years ago in St. Petersburg, Florida, had finally been captured.
US Marshals arrested him in Mexico City after a TikTok user recognized him from a photo in a video, said the detective on the other end of the line.
The suspect, Benjamin Robert “Bambi” Williams, had just been extradited to the United States, police told her. Authorities had waited until he was in custody in Pinellas County to notify her family.
Peca was in disbelief when she got the call Friday from detective Brian Bilbrey of the St. Petersburg Police Department. Overwhelmed with emotion, she excused herself to gather her thoughts.
“I can’t explain the feeling I had that moment. It was the combination of happiness and pain,” she said at a news conference Tuesday. “I remember going like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God! Are you sure?’ I was going back and forth around the house.”
For Peca and her family, the arrest was a glimmer of hope after more than three years of heartbreak and uncertainty. Police said Williams shot Joana Peca in the face on July 31, 2021, as she sat in the driver’s seat of her parked van at a St. Petersburg cemetery.
She was holding her four-month-old boy in her arms when it happened, police said. Her older son, then 4, witnessed the shooting from the backseat. Peca was Williams’ ex-girlfriend, and the younger child is his, authorities said.
In past interviews, Eleni Peca had recounted the 4-year-old’s desperate efforts to save his mother. When she picked the children up from the police station that day, she said the boy told her, “I tried to clean blood on her face, but my hands was too small … she had a lot of blood coming out and I couldn’t help my mommy.”
Williams, 41, has been charged with first-degree murder and two counts of child abuse and is being held without bond in the Pinellas County Jail. Information on whether he has retained an attorney was not immediately available.
Joana Peca was 27. Her mother, who has custody of her grandchildren, said she lost a piece of herself when her daughter died. She’s said she’s still grieving Joana’s death, along with the loss of all the dreams she had for her.
“Benjamin Williams decided to take the life of my only child in front of those kids,” Peca said this week after his arrest. “Benjamin Williams’ freedom is over.”
He lured his ex to the cemetery under false pretenses, her mother says
The shooting happened after Williams persuaded Peca to meet him at a St. Petersburg cemetery so he could see his infant son, authorities said. Williams’ sister is buried there, so Joana Peca trusted his intentions, her mother said.
As she sat in the front seat of her van holding the baby, he walked up to the car and shot her several times, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said.
“Witnesses rushed to the scene to see if they could help Joana. And as they moved her forward, … they realized that she was still holding a four-month-old baby,” he said. “Thankfully, none of the children were hurt,” Holloway added. “But I can’t even imagine the emotional toll that this four-year-old is facing today.”
Williams vanished after the shooting, authorities said. The St. Petersburg police teamed up with US Marshals, Crime Stoppers and other federal authorities to search for him, and a $25,000 reward was issued for information leading to his arrest.
The TV show “In Pursuit with John Walsh” featured the unsolved killing in an episode that aired in November 2022. The episode described a scar on Williams’ nose and said he is missing two top teeth and sometimes wears disguises, including female clothes.
Major David Gerardo of St. Petersburg Police said on the show that officers found no gun at the scene and it was not immediately clear who had killed Peca. But clues emerged after investigators went through her cell phone and discovered that she had planned to meet Williams that day, he said.
During Williams’ time on the run he was captured on security video at a store in Georgia wearing a T-shirt with “World’s Best Dad” written on it, authorities said.
A TikTok post from three years ago helped identify him
Months turned into years, with no sign of Williams.
Then on November 27, someone in Mexico saw a TikTok video about the case and tipped the US Embassy and Crime Stoppers that Williams was living in Mexico City, authorities said.
The video was posted about 10 days after the shooting by Jasmeen Alexander, a TikTok influencer whose true-crime account now has more than 2.8 million followers. It shows a Florida news channel’s coverage of the killing and search for the suspect, and has been shared hundreds of times.
It also includes a photo of Williams — in a buzz cut — staring back at the camera.
Williams was often on the move in Mexico City, where he was living under a fake name and close to being homeless, said Yolanda Fernandez, a police spokesperson. She declined to provide additional details, citing an ongoing investigation.
In his recent arrest photo, Williams’ hair is in long dreadlocks and a scar on his nose is clearly visible. He was extradited to Miami, where a St. Petersburg detective and a Pinellas County sheriff’s deputy picked him up over the weekend.
“A dangerous criminal no longer poses a threat to the community, and most importantly to the family — because they were nervous he was going to come back and try to harm the family,” said Holloway, who described Williams as St. Petersburg’s most wanted criminal.
Before his arrest, witnesses in the case were terrified to come forward, but that will change now that Williams is in custody, Holloway said.
At the news conference he also addressed Peca’s family directly.
“Nothing can replace the loss of your daughter, but at least we have a dangerous person off the street,” he said. “At least a loving mother … and the family can know now that we have him in custody. He is behind bars where he belongs.”
Alexander, the TikTok influencer, said in a recent post that Williams’ arrest — more than three years after she posted her video — demonstrates the “crazy” power of social media.
“When it comes to social media, your video can hit at any point of time,” she said.
“My heart goes out to these kids, and my heart goes out to her (Peca’s) mother, because she’s been trying to get justice since 2021,” she added. “I’m hoping this (arrest) can bring some kind of closure to the family.”
