Manhunt for Steve Stephens Ends In His Suicide In Erie, PA

Steve Stephens, the man accused of uploading a video onto Facebook of him murdering 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. on Easter Sunday, has committed suicide.

Stephens shot himself to death after a brief pursuit, the Pennsylvania State Police confirmed on their Twitter page.

The suspect was the center of a multi-state manhunt after he murdered a man in cold blood in Cleveland, Ohio, and uploaded the video onto Facebook. His cell phone was last pinged in Erie, Pa., where police told GoErie.com he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound as he drove a white Ford Fusion at 11:10 a.m.

An update provided by PSP revealed an “alert citizen” spotted Stephens traveling less than two miles away from the police’s Troop E headquarters shortly after 11 a.m. Troopers canvassed the area and located Stephens soon after. Marked police vehicles pursued the suspect for about 2 miles when troopers attempted to immobilize his vehicle.

“As the vehicle was spinning out of control … Stephens pulled a pistol and shot himself in the head,” the statement read. “A patrol trooper involved with the pursuit could not stop in time and slid into Stephens’ vehicle causing minor damage. No injuries to law enforcement or members of the public were reported.”

This story is developing.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top