Cops Urge Facebook Killer to Turn Himself In

Police say Steve Stephens posted the video after killing Robert Godwin
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 17, 2017 4:31 AM CDT
Cops Urge Facebook Killer to Turn Himself In
Police believe Stephens is driving this vehicle.   (Cleveland Police)

The Cleveland man accused of shooting an elderly man Sunday and posting video of the murder on Facebook is armed, dangerous, and could be out of Ohio by now, police say. An aggravated murder warrant was issued for Steve Stephens late Sunday and police have asked people in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, and Michigan to be on the alert, CBS reports. Police, who initially said Stephens broadcast the murder of 74-year-old Robert Godwin on Facebook Live, now say he posted the video after the killing. In the video, Stephens appears to target the elderly passerby at random. In another video, the 37-year-old claims to have killed more than a dozen other people, reports Cleveland 19.

Police describe Stephens as a 6-foot-1, 244-pound black male with a full beard and say he is driving a white Ford Fusion sedan that may have the temporary Ohio tag E363630. In his videos, Stephens, who works for an agency that provides youth counselling services, says he snapped because of problems with partner Joy Lane and other family members. At a Sunday evening press conference, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Police Chief Calvin Williams called the killing "senseless" and urged Stephens to turn himself before he harms anybody else, the Cleveland Dispatch reports. Williams said police hadn't found any evidence to support Stephens' claim to have carried out more killings. (More Cleveland stories.)

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