Manhunt on for suspect in Facebook slaying video
Local, state and federal law enforcement officers were frantically searching Monday for a suspect accused of shooting and killing a 74-year-old man Sunday in Cleveland and then posting a video of the slaying on Facebook.
Authorities said the suspect, identified by police as 37-year-old Steve W. Stephens, was still at large amid a manhunt that began in Ohio and spread to several other states before expanding into a national search.
“Steve, if you’re out there listening, call someone — whether it’s a friend or family member or pastor — give them a call; they’re waiting for you to call them,” Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams pleaded with Stephens at a news conference.
Authorities said Stephens pulled up in his Ford Fusion on a road in East Cleveland about 2 p.m. Sunday and then said in the video: “I found somebody I’m about to kill.”
“I’m about to kill this guy right here. He’s an old dude,” Stephens said as he approached Robert Godwin Sr., who was reportedly out looking for aluminum cans to collect.
“Can you do me a favor?” Stephens said to Godwin before asking him to say the name Joy Lane.
“Joy Lane?” Godwin responded.
“Yeah,” Stephens replied. “She’s the reason why this is about to happen to you.”
The video showed Stephens ask Godwin how old he was, raise a gun and pull the trigger. The camera spun around; when the picture came into focus, Godwin was on the ground.
It all lasted less than a minute, and authorities said the two men did not know each other.
In the video, Stephens claimed to have killed more than a dozen people, police said, although they have not confirmed any other victims. Authorities have issued a warrant on a charge of aggravated murder for Stephens.
In a second video, Stephens is seen on his cellphone, telling someone to go online to watch the footage.
“I can’t talk to you right now. I f----- up, man,” he said.
“I shamed myself,” he added in a video posted by Cleveland.com. “I snapped. Dog, I just snapped, dog. I just snapped. I just killed 13 ... man. That’s what I did — I killed 13 people. And I’m about to keep killing until they catch me . ... I’m working on 14 as we speak.”
Stephens said he was killing people because of Joy Lane.
“She put me at my pushing point, man,” Stephens said in the video, laughing and calling it the “Easter Sunday Joy Lane massacre.”
CBS News reported that it communicated with Lane via text message Monday.
“We had been in a relationship for several years,” she wrote, according to the network. “I am sorry that all of this has happened. My heart & prayers goes out to the family members of the victim(s). Steve really is a nice guy . ... he is generous with everyone he knows. He was kind and loving to me and my children. This is a very difficult time for me and my family Please respect our privacy at this time.”
Williams, the police chief, said the woman is safe and has been cooperating with investigators.
Williams said earlier that authorities had followed numerous leads and searched various locations. “Our reach now is basically all over this country,” he said at the news conference.
“Steve is still out there someplace,” the chief said earlier, adding: “We’re still asking Steve to turn himself in, but if he doesn’t, we’ll find him. We’re not going to stop until he’s in custody.”
The police chief asked the public to call 911 with any information and pleaded with those who know where Stephens is to report his whereabouts to authorities.
Stephens is considered armed and dangerous, and investigators have no evidence that he has switched vehicles or fled the state. Still, police said Monday that residents in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan should be on “alert.”
Authorities described Stephens as a 6-foot-1, 244pound black man, with a bald head and a full beard.
Police said he was driving a white Ford Fusion with temporary Ohio tag number E363630.
The video of Sunday’s homicide was not broadcast live, as police had initially stated. It was posted after the fact, Facebook said late Sunday, and was viewable for about three hours before it was removed and Stephens’ profile was deactivated.