The suspect was arrested in the case of the vice-chairman of corrections, who was shot dead in South Florida last week.
Kevin Bennett, 32, was arrested Thursday and faced first-degree murder charges, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff Rick Bradshaw.
Palm Beach County Correction Deputy Basil Powell was “targeted and ambushed while he was back home” at Belgrade last week.
Deputies killed in Florida off-duty correction “targeted” attack: “We're distraught”
Basil Powell was identified by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office as the victim of a “targeted” attack. (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)
Security footage recovered from the house shows Powell and his 5-year-old daughter leaving the car and walking to the front door. At the time, the gunman approaches about 25 feet late and ambushes him.
“When he left the car, he was fired immediately,” the sheriff's office said.
According to court documents, Powell closes his daughter and protects her with his body.
“It's family here, so when we lose someone who's part of our agency, everyone takes it pretty hard,” Bradshaw said.
The suspect was arrested in the case of the vice-chairman of corrections, who was shot dead in South Florida last week. (Fox News)
He said the suspects were “not strangers of violence,” and listed a long list of past expenses from batteries, aggravated batteries, robbery, theft, worsening domestic stalkers, strangleholds and false incarceration.
“When there are people like this who have a violent tendency, they don't care. That's not important to them. If you look at the US, you'll see a law enforcement officer who gets killed just by walking to the car. How many will be killed? You know. Bradshaw said Thursday.
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Palm Beach County Corrected Deputy Basil Powell was “targeted and ambushed while he was home Monday night” at Belgrade.
Bradshaw says his motivation is clear.
“(Powell's) girlfriend is the suspect's girlfriend before,” Bradshaw said. “I think he was very upset and upset about it. So he decided to kill our agent. …The motivation is not difficult to understand here.”
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During the press conference, the sheriff took the time to praise the detectives involved in the arrest.
“They worked 24 hours a day,” Bradshaw said. “Many of them didn't even sleep. They got great forensic evidence. So I had to wear a hat on them. That was a difficult case from the start.”
He says this is the fourth lieutenant they have lost within 90 days.
