TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A man charged with raping two women, leaving one dead at an apartment in Tuscaloosa, has turned himself in to police in Ohio after first fleeing to Florida, police said.
Capt. Loyd Baker, commander of the Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit, said 30-year-old Ellis Lamont Patton hitched a ride from Florida to Cleveland, where he turned himself in to Cleveland State University police working a traffic accident.
Investigators believe Patton raped and strangled 46-year-old Angela Quick Lavender at her apartment on Oct. 26 before raping a 32-year-old friend staying at the apartment. Police said Patton and Lavender had been dating a few weeks but she asked her friend to stay because she was uncomfortable being alone with Patton.
He allegedly raped the friend while forcing her elementary school-aged daughter to stay in the room.
Patton is charged with capital murder, which can result in a death sentence if convicted, along with rape, sodomy and kidnapping.
The Tuscaloosa News reported Monday that authorities said Patton went to Florida before going to Ohio, where he turned himself in on Saturday.
Police working with U.S. Marshals traced a truck found at Jacksonville Beach to Patton, who made it to Dayton Beach, where a man agreed to drive him to Ohio on Friday, Baker said.
“When they made it to the jurisdiction of the Cleveland State University, they passed police officers who were working a traffic accident,” Baker told the newspaper in an e-mail. “Patton told the driver to turn around, that he needed to turn himself in on warrants. The driver approached the officers and told them that his passenger was wanted for murder in Tuscaloosa.”
Baker said Patton was turned over to Cleveland police and the process to bring him back to Tuscaloosa would begin Monday.
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