Two Spring Hill men indicted in 2018 home invasion killing of young father in Hernando County

Two Spring Hill men have been indicted on federal charges in the 2018 home invasion killing of a young father who was beaten and shot while trying to protect his girlfriend and their child, federal and Hernando County officials announced Thursday, Oct. 8, nearly eight years after the crime.

A federal grand jury charged Arthur Williams, 34, and Timothy Colon, 42, with using a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida. Williams, who prosecutors say is also known as "Snow" and "Art," is also charged with making false statements to agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. If convicted, each man could face the death penalty or otherwise up to life in federal prison, prosecutors said.

U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe announced the indictment alongside Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis and ATF Special Agent in Charge Kirk Howard. An indictment is a formal accusation, and both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.

The October 2018 attack on Legend Street

According to federal prosecutors, a group of people carried out an armed robbery at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 16, 2018, at a Spring Hill home where the victim, his girlfriend and their infant child were present. The victim tried to defend his family, prosecutors said, and was beaten and shot. An autopsy found that he died of blunt force trauma to the head and gunshot wounds to his lower body.

The Justice Department identified the victim only by his initials, A.S., and gave his age as 23. Local news outlets and earlier sheriff's office appeals for information identified him as Alek Smith and said the attack happened at his home on Legend Street. Some of those reports, including cold case coverage in the years after the killing, gave his age as 22.

Deputies arrived within minutes in 2018, but investigators did not have enough evidence at the time to charge anyone, according to reporting by Fox 35. Detectives previously described several gunmen entering the home while the victim's family slept in nearby rooms. Spring Hill, an unincorporated community on Hernando County's western side, is the county's largest population center, about 45 miles north of downtown Tampa.

What prosecutors allege

Investigators allege that Colon planned the robbery. According to prosecutors, he conducted surveillance on the victim and his girlfriend beforehand, tracking their vehicles and social media activity, and recruited several people, including Williams, to take part. Local reports citing investigators said the group was seeking marijuana and drug proceeds and that Colon is accused of firing the shots that struck the victim in the lower body.

Kehoe said at the announcement that the victim had defended himself and his family. He also said investigators had developed additional evidence concerning the participation of Williams, Colon and others, and he warned that anyone who believes law enforcement will not pursue an old homicide is mistaken.

Officials said the investigation is continuing and that federal agencies are still looking at potential co-conspirators. Authorities have not publicly identified anyone else.

A break from an unrelated murder case

The 2018 case remained open for years. Hernando County detectives made repeated public appeals, and at one point Hernando County Crime Stoppers and the Florida Sheriffs Association's Criminal Apprehension Assistance Program each offered $5,000 for information, according to earlier local coverage.

The break came in 2025, during the federal prosecution of Lenard White and Sheldon Robinson, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. During that case, the sheriff's office and ATF developed witnesses and information that had not previously been available to investigators. Agents then conducted further interviews and executed search warrants, according to local reports, which led to the indictment of Williams and Colon.

White and Robinson were convicted by a federal jury in Tampa in October 2025 in the 2023 murder-for-hire killing of a 17-year-old Hernando County high school student who had reported a sexual assault. Each was sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus 100 years in federal prison.

The investigation into the 2018 killing was led by ATF and the Hernando County Sheriff's Office, with help from the State Attorney's Office for the Fifth Judicial Circuit, which covers Hernando County, according to the federal announcement.

Custody status

Both men are in custody, according to local reports, though accounts of their status differed slightly. Fox 35 reported that Williams was being held at the Hernando County Jail on unrelated state charges and was awaiting transfer to federal custody for an initial appearance, and that Colon was taken into custody on Wednesday. Officials also said both men have prior histories with law enforcement involving serious offenses, including human trafficking, according to local reports. Investigators have said they suspect the two could be connected to other crimes in Hernando County, but officials did not announce any additional charges against either man on Thursday.

Sheriff Nienhuis said the agencies moved quickly once they could, saying they did not want to make the family wait a minute longer for justice than necessary.

Why the federal charge carries a possible death sentence

The main count in the indictment is a federal firearms charge tied to a crime of violence, in this case the alleged armed robbery. When a killing results from the use of a firearm during such a crime, federal law allows a sentence of up to life in prison or death. Federal prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty, a decision that under Justice Department policy requires authorization from the U.S. attorney general.

What's next

Williams and Colon are expected to make initial appearances in federal court in the Middle District of Florida, where a magistrate judge will advise them of the charges and address detention. No trial date has been set. Anyone with information about the 2018 killing or possible co-conspirators is asked to contact the Hernando County Sheriff's Office. Anonymous tips can also be submitted through Hernando County Crime Stoppers at 1-866-990-8477. Kehoe credited federal agents and sheriff's investigators for staying with the case through nearly eight years without an arrest.