Why Cleveland Killer Steven Stephens Affects ALL of Us
UPDATE: Stephens has committed suicide. His body was found at 10am EST April 18.
Mental illness is REAL and should not be ignored. The smallest cries for help could be the forewarning of terror and debauchery. While we cannot charge the loved ones of Steve Stephens, should we can hold them accountable? Do we hold our community accountable for these horrific crimes. Blended and Black often tackles issues of emotional instability and mental illness, because this is such a prevalent and ignored occurrence. Sadly, we do not talk about it until it happens to us.
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By now, we have all heard about Steve Stephens. In case, you may have missed this breaking story, here’s what we know so far.
A gunman fatally shot an elderly man at random, posting video of the shooting on Facebook, and has claimed to have killed several other people on Easter Sunday, Cleveland Police say.
Steve Stephens, who goes by Stevie Steve on Facebook, is wanted for homicide, Cleveland Police said in a press release. Only one shooting, which was seen in video on Facebook, has been confirmed, police said.
Police said late Sunday an aggravated murder warrant has been issued for Stephens. A massive multi-state manhunt is underway for him as police say he could be out of state.
“Residents of states of Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan asked to be on alert,” the police press release said. He is possibly heading to New York to see family, police said.
Police Chief Calvin Williams said Stephens committed a “heinous crime in our city” and needs to be taken off the street. He said anyone who is helping Stephens escape could also face charges and should turn him in. Williams said police had contact with Stephens by phone early on in the investigation, but haven’t heard from him since.
The victim has been identified by police as 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. You can read more about him here.
Stephens takes on his mother in one video, he claims she didn’t care when he said he was suicidal. Stephens says, “Didn’t care, it don’t matter, people would come to me with their problems, I would deal with my problems everyday. But when it comes to my problems, nobody gives a f*ck. It’s like I’m always the bad guy, no matter what the f*ck I do, people always making it out on me…. Innocent people about to die today. Hopefully I’m going to try and kill as many people as I can and be on death row or whatever the case may be. I just don’t give a f*ck no more. I’m beat, I’m tired, you know.”
“I snapped, dog, I just snapped,” he tells the man on the phone, saying he shamed his fraternity with his actions. “I just killed 13 motherf*ckers man. That’s what I did, I killed 13 people and I’m about to keep killing until they catch me. F*ck it.”
In another video, he says, “The people I’m going to kill today, it’s Easter Sunday, it’s not my first. I’ve got a few people that’s over here off this street … it’s an abandoned house, I kind of lost count. I didn’t keep score. But I’m going to keep score today. I’m bout to have me some fun, I guess.”
He also claims he is going to randomly shoot “Greeks” in the head until he gets caught. Stephens said on his Facebook page he was a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
“The vengeance is about to happen,” he says in one video.
Cleveland Police have confirmed that a video posted to Facebook showing an elderly man being shot is legitimate. The video was posted Sunday by a Facebook user going by the name “Stevie Steve,” who has been identified by police as Steve Stephens.
On Facebook, Stephens blamed the shootings on a woman, Joy Lane, who appears to have been his girlfriend. He wrote in the caption of a photo with her, “three years I spent with this bitch … I wish we never met.”
Joy Lane sent a statement to CBS News:
We had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened. My heart & prayers goes out to the family members of the victim(s). Steve really is a nice guy…he is generous with everyone he knows. He was kind and loving to me and my children. This is a very difficult time for me and my family Please respect our privacy at this time.
She also posted a message on her now-deleted Facebook page:
At this moment, Steve is still at large.