Steve William Stephens worked as a vocational specialist at a behavioral health agency for children and families. He was wearing his work ID badge day of the murder.Police confirmed there was no known connection between Godwin and Stephens prior to the shooting and that Godwin was selected at random. Stephens' mother was quoted as having told authorities that Stephens told her by phone he was "shooting people" because he was mad with his girlfriend.
The shooting happened at around 2:00 p.m. EDT on April 16, 2017 (Easter Sunday), in the 600 block of East 93rd Street in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood. Stephens uploaded a video of the event. Seconds before the shooting, Stephens exited his car, approached the victim and then asked Godwin to say the name of a woman with whom Stephens had been in a romantic relationship. Stephens then said "She's the reason why this is about to happen to you", before fatally shooting Godwin, who fell to the ground after he was shot.Facebook said the video was uploaded to the website after the fact, not livestreamed as initially reported In other Facebook posts, Stephens claimed responsibility for 13 murders, but police said they were not aware of any other victims.
A search for Stephens began soon after the shooting, prompting lockdowns at a number of locations, including Cleveland State University. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters that detectives talked with Stephens by cellphone shortly after the shooting, but had no further contact with him since that time. The manhunt expanded to other states on the morning of April 17. Residents in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, and Michigan were asked to be on alert, and a US$50,000 reward was offered for information leading to Stephens' arrest on a charge of aggravated murderThe FBI also aided the Cleveland Police Department.
At 11:10 a.m. on April 18, Stephens pulled into the drive-through lane of a McDonald's restaurant in Harborcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, 100 miles from the location of the shooting. An employee recognized Stephens from news reports and, after verifying with fellow employees, provided Stephens with part of his order, but stalled him by stating that his fries were still cooking. During this time police were called to the restaurant. Stephens, wary, left without his fries.
As Stephens pulled out of the restaurant, state police gave chase heading westbound through Wesleyville, Pennsylvania. Stephens made it to the corner of Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue in the city of Erie, where Pennsylvania State Police successfully executed a tactical maneuver to bring the car to a stop. As police approached Stephens' car, he shot himself in the head and died instantly.
The Curious Case Series Documentary follows Steve Stephens into his decent into darkness heavily edited by me using the footage he left behind. This is a pretty dark series and is not meant to glorify his actions, but to tell his story
viewer discretion advised
