Who was Steve Stephens? Cleveland Facebook killer found dead after shooting himself – here’s all you need to know
A GUNMAN who posted a video on Facebook of the moment he shot an elderly man dead has killed himself after sparking a police manhunt spanning five US states.
Steve Stephens went on the run after uploading a video of the moment he murdered Robert Godwin sr. in cold blood in Cleveland, Ohio.
Following the "Easter Sunday slaughter", five US states were in lockdown as cops hunted for the killer.
After what police described as a "brief pursuit", he was eventually found in his white Ford Fusion after apparently committing suicide.
Pennsylvania State Police said officers spotted the gunman in Erie County, in the state’s northwest corner, after receiving a tip-off.
But who was Steve Stephens, and what exactly happened? Here's all you need to know:
Who was Steve Stephens?
Steve Stephens, nicknamed "Stevie", was 37 years old and described as a 6ft 1ins African American weighing around 240 pounds.
After the fatal shooting, he was last been seen wearing a striped blue and black polo shirt and driving a white Ford Fusion car.
Stephens reportedly attended a high school in Cleveland's East Side before attending the business school Myers College in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
His next-door-neighbour Alexis Lee has said that Stephens had a bizarre "party trick" as a teenager.
She told the that he bought a python and would approach women with the slithering pet around his neck to try and win their affections.
The 34-year-old mum painted Stephens as a desperate figure at the gambling tables.
She said: "I saw him at the casino a couple of times and he would remind me that he always had a crush on me.
"One he asked me to sit next to him at the tables saying 'Be my queen... be my lucky charm'. But I wasn't interested. I just went home."
A video posted to his Facebook page prior to the vicious killing shows Stephens firing a semi-automatic weapon on a shooting range.
But prior to the brutal Easter Sunday shooting, he had no criminal record and was not known to police, aside from motoring violations.
According to his mother, Maggie Green, who urged her son to turn himself in after the brutal attack, he "never had any serious issues".
But in a series of Facebook posts, Stephens described how the effects of crippling gambling debts and breaking up with his partner caused him to ";snap".
He recently ended a three-year relationship with Joy Lane, who went into police custody after the killer went on the run.
In a , Lane wrote: "We had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened."
The gunman's mother she had spoken to her son on Sunday, when he told her that he was "mad with his girlfriend".
Ms Green said her son told her it was going to be the "last time" they were going to see each other.
Stephens is understood to have worked as a children's mental health case worker at the Beech Brook facility in north-east Ohio.
What happened in the Cleveland Facebook shooting?
On Easter Sunday, Steve Stephens shot dead Robert Godwin, 74, in Glenville, Cleveland, and shared a video of the murder on Facebook.
In the graphic video of the attack, Stephens can be seen approaching Godwin in the street, saying: “Found me somebody I’m about to kill… this old dude.”
He then asked the elderly granddad to say his ex-girlfriend’s name to the camera, before adding: “She’s the reason this is about to happen to you.”
Stephens filmed himself pointing and shooting his gun at the man who fell to the ground, with blood pouring from his face down onto the pavement.
In a series of Facebook posts, Stephens claimed he had killed a total of 15 people in what he called an “Easter day slaughter”.
Cleveland Police confirmed the fatal shooting broadcast on Facebook was real, but said there were no other victims linked to the “random” attack.
Stephens also said that he would not stop killing unless his mother or Joy, his former partner, call him.
Police launched a huge manhunt for Stephens and warned residents in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan to be on alert because he may have crossed state lines.
What have Robert Godwin's children said?
His family has said they all "forgive" Stephens.
During a vigil for the “sweet” grandfather of 14, his youngest son, Marsean Robert Godwin, told mourners: “That man killed my daddy for no reason.”
Distraught family members and loved ones laid flowers on Monday at the exact spot where Mr Godwin was slaughtered by Stephens at 2pm.
Mr Godwin's daughter, Tonya Godwin-Baines, said: "Each one of us forgives the killer, the murderer.
"We want to wrap our arms around him."
She said she will be haunted by the footage of her dad's death because of the "fear in his eyes".
Has the video been taken down by Facebook?
Facebook announced it would be launching a review for reporting harmful content following the killing.
The social media giant said that it disabled Stephen's account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the video of the fatal shooting and two hours after receiving any report.
Justin Osofsky, Facebook's vice president of global operations, said: "In this case we did not receive a report about the first video, and we only received a report about the second video containing the shooting more than an hour and 45 minutes after it was posted.
"We received reports about the third video, containing the man's live confession, only after it had ended."
He added: "As a result of the terrible series of events, we are reviewing our reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible."
