photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Stephen Alexander Marlow

A man wanted in connection with four killings in Dayton, Ohio, was arrested in Lawrence on Saturday night after a nationwide manhunt, the FBI announced.

Stephen Marlow was arrested by Lawrence police on Saturday evening, according to a social media announcement by the Cincinnati field office of the FBI.

Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman Laura McCabe said in a press release that Stephen Marlow, 39, was arrested about 9 p.m. Saturday in a parking lot on West 23rd Street after an officer spotted the suspect’s vehicle turn east off Ousdahl Road.

According to the Douglas County Jail booking logs, Marlow, of Dayton, Ohio, was arrested at 8:45 p.m. at 1015 W. 23rd St., or the Dillons Food Store parking lot.

Marlow was recently placed on the FBI’s 10-most wanted list.

McCabe stated that Marlow’s arrest stemmed from a multiagency effort.

“Clear multiagency communication on a national and regional level, followed by proactive teamwork in our patrol department, and ultimately by an alert officer, resulted in an arrest without incident,” she states in the release. “We are extremely proud of our officers’ work and thankful for the peaceful outcome.”

McCabe said that when it was learned there was reason to believe the suspect was in Lawrence, patrol supervisors initiated a citywide search. During that time, an on-duty patrol officer spotted a vehicle matching that of the suspect driving northbound on Ousdahl Road and observed it turn eastbound on 23rd Street. While additional officers were in route, the suspect pulled into a parking lot, exited the vehicle and was taken into custody.

The Associated Press on Friday reported that authorities were looking for Marlow after four people were fatally shot in an Ohio neighborhood.

Police in Montgomery County’s Butler Township said officers were called to the area shortly before noon Friday on a report of shots fired. Chief John Porter said four victims with gunshot wounds were found at “multiple crime scenes.” All were pronounced dead at the scene.

The Montgomery County coroner’s office on Saturday identified the victims as 82-year-old Clyde Knox, 78-year-old Eva Knox, 41-year-old Sarah Anderson and a 15-year-old girl whose name wasn’t released. The Dayton Daily News reported that the four victims lived in separate homes near the home owned by Marlow’s parents.

“We are working to determine if there is any motive to this horrible tragedy or if mental illness played any role,” Porter said. He called the shooting “the first violent crime in this neighborhood in recent memory.”

The FBI field office in Cincinnati said it was part of the investigation and noted that Marlow had ties to Indianapolis, Chicago and Lexington, Kentucky, “and could be in one of these cities.”

The Dayton Daily News reported that Marlow had gotten off probation in February on aggravated burglary and aggravated menacing charges stemming from a July 2019 incident in the Dayton suburb of Vandalia, according to Montgomery County court records.

Marlow is currently being held at the Douglas County Jail without a bond.

A spokesperson with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office told the Journal-World that Marlow would be subject to the standard procedure for out of state extradition and that Douglas County Courts follow the bond conditions set by the jurisdiction who has issued the warrant.

Marlow was appointed defense attorney Dakota Loomis to handle his extradition proceedings and is next scheduled in court on Wednesday at 2 p.m.

— Journal-World reporters Elvyn Jones and Chris Conde and The Associated Press contributed to this report.