An Atlanta man wanted for murder was arrested during an extraordinary traffic stop Thursday night — in the Atlantic Ocean on a cruise ship.

Investigators from the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlanta giving chase on a 47-foot Coast Guard cutter stopped the Carnival Celebration cruise ship about five miles outside of Jacksonville, before the ship entered international waters. They then arrested Derron Keenan Williams, 29, of Atlanta, who had been traveling under an alias.

"We were a step behind him all day," said James Ergas, Supervisory Inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service in Atlanta. "We missed him at the Atlanta airport. We missed him at his hotel in Jacksonville. By the time we found out where he was, he was already on the cruise ship."

Williams was wanted by the Atlanta Police Department for felony murder and aggravated assault with a weapon. Williams allegedly killed Weston Spratling early on the morning of Feb. 9 in Atlanta by running him over with his car after the two had argued at a party, Ergas said.

Ergas said the cruise ship was bound for the Bahamas. He said Williams had been alerted that he was wanted in the murder of Spratling and was fleeing.

"We do not know if he was planning to return to the country," Ergas said. "But we do know it's a lot easier to leave the country by cruise ship than airplane."

Marshals Service investigators and U.S. Coast Guard personnel boarded the Coast Guard cutter from Mayport Naval Base and began to pursue the cruise ship in an attempt to catch it before it entered international waters.

They located the ship, which was carrying approximately 3,000 passengers and crew, and boarded it five miles offshore about 7 p.m. Thursday. Ergas said the crew helped them quickly locate Williams and his girlfriend in their cabin, where Williams was arrested without incident.

Williams was then taken via the Coast Guard cutter back to Jacksonville. He was being held Friday afternoon in the Duval County Jail pending his extradition back to Atlanta.