Facebook murder suspect Steve Stephens shoots himself dead after Erie County chase

Steve Stephens, wanted for the fatal shooting of a 74-year-old man in Cleveland filmed on Facebook, killed himself during a police pursuit in Pennsylvania.

Facebook murder suspect ends pursuit with self-inflicted gunshot in Pennsylvania

Steve Stephens, the man wanted in connection with the killing of 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. in Cleveland, Ohio, shot and killed himself on Tuesday morning following a brief police pursuit in Erie County, Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. abcnews.com reported that the chase came to an end when officers used a PIT manoeuvre to disable Stephens' vehicle, at which point he pulled a pistol and shot himself in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The pursuit began shortly after 11 a.m. when Pennsylvania State Police received a tip that Stephens' vehicle had been spotted in a McDonald's car park near Erie — approximately 100 miles northeast of Cleveland. It was a McDonald's employee who alerted authorities after recognising Stephens as he passed through the drive-thru. The fast food company confirmed the employee's actions in a statement to ABC News.

"We applaud the crew members at this McDonald's restaurant who recognised the suspect and did the right thing by quickly alerting the authorities of his location," a McDonald's spokesperson said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim's loved ones and all of those impacted by this horrific crime."

Officers responded to the scene and Stephens fled in his vehicle, leading police on a pursuit of roughly two miles before the PIT manoeuvre brought the chase to a halt.

Nationwide manhunt following Easter Sunday killing

Stephens had been on the run since Sunday, when he allegedly shot and killed Godwin Sr. on Easter Sunday afternoon in Cleveland and subsequently posted a video of the killing to Facebook. Police described him as armed and dangerous, and a nationwide manhunt was launched. Billboards carrying Stephens' photograph were displayed across the country.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams, speaking at a news conference on Tuesday morning, said he was relieved the manhunt had concluded but expressed regret at the outcome.

"We're grateful this ended," Williams said. "We would have preferred it not ended this way. There are a lot of questions for the family and the city in general that they would have had for Steve as to why this transpired."

Pennsylvania State Police said it remained unclear whether Stephens had been in the Erie area since Sunday. Erie police had registered a phone ping from Stephens on the east side of Erie County on Sunday night, though he was not visually confirmed in the area until Tuesday.

"We searched that area initially on Sunday when we got that ping," Williams said. "We were in the process today of going back and doing a more thorough search of that area."

Williams said police did not know whether anyone had harboured Stephens during the intervening days, noting the region offered substantial cover. "There are a lot of remote areas, a lot of woods, farms, barns, things like that," he said. "So until we can get our investigators up there to confer with the officers, look in the vehicle itself, track back some people that may have seen him along the way today, we won't actually know where he was."

Stephens had claimed to have committed multiple homicides, but police said no additional victims had been found.

Godwin family speaks of grief and forgiveness

Godwin's daughter, Tonya Godwin Baines, told ABC News that the video of her father's killing "forever will be in my mind because I saw the fear in my father's eyes." She said it "feels like our heart is just ripped out of our chest. For somebody to brutally murder my father like that is unbelievable."

Baines described her father as the epitome of a family man. "He taught us about God, he taught us love, forgiveness," she said. "Just to know that I will never ever hear my father's voice again is devastating."

Her sister, Debbie Godwin, told ABC News she harboured no animosity towards the man who killed their father. "I truly can say I don't even feel any animosity against the guy that killed my father," she said. "I'm glad that my parents taught us to love people and to forgive even when they do us wrong."

At a news conference Tuesday morning, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson praised the Godwin family for the manner in which they had responded publicly to the tragedy.

"They've asked us as a community to forgive and to begin to heal," Jackson said. "Because what happened on Easter Sunday was traumatic."

The investigation remains ongoing.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)