A nationwide manhunt ends in a suicide

On April 16, Robert Godwin, 74, was shot by stranger, Steve Stephens, 37,  while walking home from Easter festivities in Cleveland, Ohio.

Robert Godwin was a retired foundry worker. Godwin had 10 children and 14 grand children. He enjoyed fishing, as well.   

He often walked his neighborhood with a plastic bag in his hands collecting aluminum cans he found on the ground. That’s exactly what he was doing Sunday morning in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood when he randomly chosen to be Stephens’s victim.

Steve Stephens went to McDonald’s on day three of the nationwide manhunt for him and ordered a 20-piece chicken nuggets and fries.

In Harborcreek Township, PA, McDonald’s employees tried to say that Stephens’s fries were going to be ready in a minute and if he could just wait but Stephens declared that he had no time, taking his chicken nuggets and leaving.

Henry Sayers, Mcdonald’s employee, spoke with WOIO-TV in Cleveland, said that the fugitive on FBI’s Most Wanted List “acted normal” as he placed his order at 11:10am.

Four state police cars and one local police cruiser ended up chasing Stephens, for almost 2 miles into a quiet stretch of Erie, Pa near an abandoned school.

One of the cars slammed into Stephens’s white Ford Fusion.

“The vehicle spun around, came to a stop,” Teper said. “He immediately pulled a weapon out and shot himself, in the car.”

This all began with Stephen’s being upset over his girlfriend, and while filming he walked  up to a random stranger on the street, asking him to say a name (Joy Lane) then instantly shooting him in the head.

Stephens remained on the run for 48 hours after the shooting, going on Facebook to exclaim that he had killed 13 other people and would not stop until he was caught.

Joy Lane had met with the victim’s family on Tuesday.

“I feel bad,” Lane told a local Fox affiliate. “The last thing he would have said was my name and he didn’t know me or why he was saying it.”

Reactions were mixed about Stephens’s death coming from relatives.

The victim’s daughter, Brenda Haymon says “I wanted him to be killed with 100 bullets. The damage that he caused to our family. And to my sweet father like that was just dirty.”

Another one of Godwin’s  daughters, Debbie Godwin, said she would’ve rather Stephens to stay alive to be able to be brought to justice.

“I’m not happy the man is dead.. We wish he would have served the time for what he did to my father. He didn’t get to pay any penalty for what he did to my father.”

She goes on to tell Time magazine “That was the easy way out.”

In the second video that Stephens posted on Facebook, he explains his actions by saying, “I’m at the point where I snapped.”

Stephens worked at Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency that serves children, since 2008. He was previously a vocational specialist since April 2015 and before that was a youth mentor.

“We were shocked and horrified yesterday to learn about the situation involving the threats by Steve Stephens and the tragic shooting of Mr. Godwin.” the agency says.