BELLE GLADE, Fla. — Detectives believe a domestic-related quarrel was the reason a Palm Beach County corrections deputy was gunned down in an ambush attack this week outside of his home in Belle Glade.
The suspect Kevin Bennette, 32, was arrested Thursday and will face a charge of first-degree murder, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw announced during an afternoon news conference.
WATCH BELOW: Sheriff Bradshaw announces arrest of suspect in deputy's killing
The sheriff said Bennette is "not a stranger to violence," outlining a past of arrests on charges of battery, aggravated battery, burglary, theft, aggravated domestic stalking, domestic violence by strangulation and false imprisonment.
Deputy Sheriff Basil Powell was off duty when he was shot while returning to his Belle Glade home Monday night in what the sheriff's office called a targeted attack.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Thursday that Powell's killing was motivated by a domestic issue involving a woman.
"The girlfriend of (Powell) is a prior girlfriend of the suspect," Bradshaw said. "I think that he was extremely agitated over that and upset and that's why decided to kill our deputy. ... The motive's not hard to figure out here."
WATCH BELOW: Family, friends mourn loss of deputy
This sheriff's office said earlier this week that Powell's death was not related to his role as a corrections deputy.
Powell was assigned to the West Corrections Center after being hired in October 2021.
Bennette is scheduled to make his first appearance before a Palm Beach County judge Friday morning.
"I suspect he will have no bond," Bradshaw said. "We're going to ask for that, for sure."
The sheriff praised detectives for making the arrest.
"They worked around the clock," Bradshaw said. "A lot of them didn't even go to sleep. They got great forensic evidence."
The sheriff noted that this is the fourth deputy that the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office "family" has lost in less than 90 days after three deputies were killed in November along Southern Boulevard.
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