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Suspect mostly hid out in Va.

David Franklin
He faces homicide charges in Butler

A suspected teenage killer on the run for more than two months after allegedly gunning down a man at a Butler apartment complex in March had been hiding out for much of that time in Richmond, Va., authorities said.

More recently, David “Dae Dae” Jabril Franklin, 19, of Brackenridge was staying at a home in the city, Virginia's capital, about 350 miles from Butler.

That's where his luck ran out Thursday afternoon. And the target of the manhunt, who was believed to be armed and dangerous, didn't put up a fight.

“Contact was made at the house and he was told to come out, and he did,” Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Jon Gallagher of the U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force said Friday.

Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service, Capitol Area Regional Fugitive Task Force, arrested and handcuffed Franklin, who was taken away for processing.

He was booked into the Henrico County Jail at 6 p.m., about three hours later.

The now former fugitive remains behind bars while awaiting extradition back to Butler County to face homicide charges.

It was not known when extradition proceedings would be held. Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger did not return a telephone call Friday.

Franklin is accused of shooting Rashaan Khalil Adams, 20, of Philadelphia twice in the head and once in the chest on March 16 at the Wick Street Apartments.

Butler police found Adams' body on the kitchen floor at an apartment where several people, including Franklin and Adams, had stayed the night before the shooting, investigators said.

According to charging documents, Kimberly Schnur, the apartment's tenant at the time, told police she witnessed the shooting.

Police have declined to discuss a motive, but Schnur claims she was in her upstairs bedroom about 8 a.m. when Franklin woke her up to ask “where his money is,” documents said.

Schnur said the defendant was alleging $900 had been stolen from his pocket.

At 10:16 a.m., police were called for shots fired at the apartment.

Officers searched for but could not find the suspect. The U.S. Marshals Western Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force was eventually called in to lead the manhunt.

For weeks, tips and clues were hard to come by and Franklin's whereabouts remained a mystery. That would finally change.

“We developed information he was in the Richmond area,” Gallagher said. He declined to elaborate but said authorities believe the teen had been in Richmond for “about two months.”

Franklin was no stranger to the city about 100 miles south of Washington, D.C.

“He lived there in the past,” Gallagher said, “and he has family in the area.”

Marshals would later get an even better lead.

“He was at a friend's house,” Gallagher said. Franklin, he said, had been there for “several days” before being captured.

A “few other people” were in the home when marshals showed up about 3 p.m. Authorities do not believe the others knew that Franklin was wanted, Gallagher said.

He did not know if the defendant made any statement following his arrest. He also did not immediately know how the teenager got there.

Marshals had previously contacted Franklin's family in hopes they would help in efforts to track down the young fugitive. Those efforts were not rewarded.

Gallagher said the family did not help authorities.

“If they were being cooperative,” he said, “(Franklin) would have turned himself in.”

He admitted that he had no information to suggest Franklin's family aided the fugitive.

Gallagher said he was happy that the search is over and ended without injury.

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