A suspect has been arrested in the case of a corrections deputy who was shot and killed in south Florida last week.

Kevin Benette, 32, was arrested on Thursday and faces charges of first-degree murder, according to Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, Palm Beach County Sheriff.

Palm Beach County Corrections Deputy Basil Powell was “targeted and ambushed while returning home” last week in Belle Glade. 

Palm Beach County Corrections Deputy Basil Powell was “targeted and ambushed while returning home” Monday night to Belle Glade. 

Bradshaw says the motive is clear.

“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 he decided to kill our deputy. … The motive’s not hard to figure out here.”

During the press conference, the sheriff took time to praise the detectives involved in 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. So I got to give my hats off to them. It was a difficult case to start with.”

He says this is the fourth deputy they have lost in less than 90 days.