SLED, feds helped search for wanted Lancaster man charged with murder

Local, state and federal law enforcement officers pursued leads “up and down” the East Coast during the last year while searching for the Lancaster man accused of killing his girlfriend and staging her death to look like a suicide, officials said Wednesday.

Keishawn Omar McManus, 23, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on charges of murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to a statement from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. McManus had been on the run since the Dec. 23, 2014, shooting death of his girlfriend, 19-year-old Quatavia Robinson.

Deputies that day responded to McManus’ home in the 100 block of Clyburn Drive after he called 911, according to Doug Barfield, a sheriff’s spokesman. An autopsy revealed Robinson died from a single gunshot wound to the chest, and a .380-caliber pistol and cartridge case were found in the home.

Based on the information McManus provided, the case was initially investigated as a suicide, Barfield said. However, after examining evidence and interviewing witnesses, crime scene investigators determined Robinson’s death was a homicide.

Arrest warrants for McManus were obtained Jan. 6 but McManus could not be located, Barfield said. Lancaster County authorities enlisted the help of the State Law Enforcement Division and the U.S. Marshals Service and received information that led investigators “up and down” the East Coast in search of McManus.

Investigators received a tip that McManus was at a home on Blossom Street in Lancaster, where his mother and her boyfriend live, Sheriff Barry Faile said. The home was placed under surveillance for “quite a while,” but Faile declined to elaborate.

Video provided by a Herald reader shows McManus walking out of the home with his hands raised before his arrest.

McManus went before a magistrate Wednesday; however, a magistrate cannot set bond on a murder charge.

It wasn’t clear Wednesday if more arrests are possible, but Faile said, “We’re still investigating that as a possibility.”

“I appreciate the patience of Ms. Robinson’s family, and I am happy they can find some comfort that McManus is now in custody and the prosecution phase of this case can begin,” Faile said in a statement. “I thank our deputies, investigators, SWAT team members and our crisis negotiator for their professionalism (Tuesday). An operation that could have ended differently was concluded peacefully without injury to anyone.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 7:59 PM with the headline "SLED, feds helped search for wanted Lancaster man charged with murder."