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St. Pete police: Man arrested in connection to woman found dead in alley

Tommy Stephens, 52, was taken into custody and is now facing a second-degree murder charge.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Police Department has arrested a man accused of killing a woman last week in an alley.

Tommy Stephens, 52, was taken into custody and is now facing a second-degree murder charge.

According to police, back on March 17, Stephens met with 34-year-old Jona Waller in the alley south of 255 37th St. N. He then reportedly stabbed her and killed her.

Her body was found later that afternoon.

An investigation into the stabbing led detectives to identify Stephens as the suspect and arrest him.

The family said that the 34-year-old was a mother of two daughters ages 5 and 3. Ever since her death, it's been a constant nightmare, Jona Waller's mother Patricia Suggs-Walker previously said.

The mother also said that she would talk on the phone with her daughter every day. Their last phone call did not sound like there was anything to worry about, but when she didn't receive a call from her daughter, she said that's when she felt something was off. Her instincts were right.

"I've found people pass down the alleyway, so when I discovered the body I didn't think it was anything crazy," Alex Visagio said.

Visagio is the man who called 911 after finding Jona Waller's body behind a trashcan Friday afternoon.

"This is nothing like I've ever experienced before,"  Visagio said.

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