U.S. Tourist Brutally Murdered in Grenada Was Allegedly Killed by a Former Prisoner

A man who had recently been released from prison has surrendered himself to authorities in connection with Sunday's murder of a U.S. tourist in Grenada.

Dave Martin Benjamin, the alleged murderer of tourist Jessica Colker, 39, turned himself in to the St. David police station Monday morning, according to MTV News Grenada's Facebook page.

Colker, who was vacationing on the Caribbean island, died from "extensive skull fracture and asphyxia" after she was attacked while was walking on the Le-Cheasere beach in La Sagesse in St. David with her husband, according to the New York Daily News. She was killed on the beach by a man wielding a machete-like weapon, and although her husband, Brian Melito, managed to escape the assault unharmed, Colker's body was found nearby minutes later after the attacker had fled the scene.

Colker had lived in Atlanta and worked as a physician's assistant in anesthesiology at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, according to CNN.

"Jessica was a valued member of our children's team," Children's Healthcare of Atlanta said in a statement, CNN reported. "We are deeply saddened by this horrific news. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family during this very difficult time."

Colker and Melito, world travelers who had been married for only two years, reportedly fell in love while traveling through Central America and married after a 3-month engagement, the New York Daily News reported.

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