An arrest has been made in the killing of Sadie Roberts-Joseph, a Baton Rouge icon who founded an African American history museum, according to officials during a press conference on Tuesday.  Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said detectives have arrested Ron Jermaine Bell in connection with the homicide. He now faces a first-degree murder charge.

The founder of Baton Rouge’s African American history museum died of suffocation and her death was a homicide, a coroner ruled Monday, as residents of Louisiana’s capital city struggled to come to terms with the slaying of the well-respected, 75-year-old community leader.

East Baton Rouge Coroner Beau Clark released preliminary autopsy results that show Sadie Roberts-Joseph was suffocated before her body was found in the trunk of a car Friday.

He said Roberts-Joseph died from “traumatic asphyxia, including suffocation.” The Advocate reports this means her airways were physically blocked, cutting off her oxygen supply.

Roberts-Joseph founded the Baton Rouge African American Museum in 2001. It features a 1953 bus that visitors can board to learn more about the Baton Rouge bus boycott of that year. They can also learn about three different types of cotton grown in the museum’s garden, and learn more about African American contributions in areas such as inventions and art.