The intense manhunt for Facebook killer Steve Stephens has expanded to 5 states. Stephens, 37, is wanted for the brutal shooting death of a 74-year-old man, which he filmed and uploaded on Facebook on Easter Sunday.
The FBI has joined Cleveland law enforcement and police in surrounding jurisdictions are on the lookout for the psychotic killer in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan.
Police say Stephens’ cell phone pinged off a tower in Erie, Pennsylvania, about 100 miles east of Cleveland.
Stephens, 37, apparently selected Robert Godwin, Sr., 74, at random in the Glenville neighborhood of Cleveland at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Stephens exited his vehicle, approached Godwin on the sidewalk and asked him to repeat a woman’s name. “She’s the reason why, um, this is about to happen to you,” said Stephens, who then shot the elderly man point blank in the head.
He filmed the victim lying on the blood-soaked ground. The grisly video has since been removed from Facebook and Youtube.com.
“We talked to him via cell phone,” said Cleveland’s Police Chief Calvin Williams in a news conference on Monday. Police urged the killer to turn himself in.
Williams said the family reported multiple fake Gofundme pages, and he urged the public not to contribute money.
CNN reports that Godwin was on his way home after enjoying an Easter dinner with his children.
Stephens is charged with aggravated murder.
