“Facebook Killer” Steve Stephens Commits Suicide After Pursuit

Godwin’s daughter Brenda Haymon learned of Stephens’ death as she was planning funeral arrangements for her father.

“All I can say is that I wish he had gone down in a hail of one hundred bullets,” Brenda Haymon told CNN. “I wish it had gone down like that instead of him shooting himself.”
Godwin was shot while walking home from an Easter meal Sunday in Cleveland. Stephens later posted video of the killing on Facebook.

Through their tears, several of Godwin’s children said they held no animosity against Stephens.

“Each one of us forgives the killer, the murderer,” Godwin’s daughter Tonya Godwin Baines said Monday.
Son told victim, ‘OK, enjoy your Easter’

Godwin taught his children the value of hard work. He taught them how to love God and fear God, and how to forgive, his children said.
“They don’t make men like him anymore. He was definitely one in a million,” said another daughter, Debbie Godwin.

The police chief said Stephens apparently chose Godwin at random.
Stephens’ mother, Maggie Green, said her son stopped by her house Saturday and gave her a cryptic message.
“He said this (was) the last time I was going to see him,” Green said.
They spoke briefly the next day, his mother said. Before Green’s phone died, Stephens told her he was “shooting people” because he was “mad with his girlfriend” of about three years, his mother said.

Later Sunday, Stephens uploaded a video to his Facebook page showing a gun pointed at a man’s head.
Family: Shooting victim ‘stripped of his dignity’
Seconds before the shooting, Stephens asked the victim to say the name of a woman believed to associated with the suspect.
“She’s the reason why this is about to happen to you,” Stephens said.
Then, the gunman fires the weapon. The victim recoils and falls to the ground.
If you see Steve Stephens dial 9-1-1. If you have tips about the crime or his whereabouts please call the FBI tipline 1-800-Call FBI