Cleveland, Ohio: Federico Belton Arrested in Akron and Charged With Murder in East 120th Street Double Killing

A 25-year-old man who fled to Akron was arrested within hours of a Sunday evening shooting in Cleveland that killed two men, and he has been charged with aggravated murder, Cleveland police said. Federico Belton was arrested with help from the Summit County Sheriff's Office and the Akron Police Department, according to a Cleveland police release carried by the Akron Beacon Journal.

Belton appeared in Cleveland Municipal Court on Tuesday morning, where his bond was set at $2 million, WKYC reported, citing court records that list two counts of aggravated murder. The circumstances of the shooting are still under investigation, police said, and no motive has been released.

Two men found on East 120th Street

Around 6 p.m. on Sunday, October 25, Cleveland police Fourth District officers responded to a report of shots fired and a person down in the street in the 4100 block of East 120th Street, Sgt. Wilfredo Diaz, a Cleveland police public information officer, said in the release.

Officers found Christopher Williams, 34, in the street with multiple apparent gunshot wounds. They gave first aid until Cleveland EMS arrived and continued treatment, and Williams was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Officers also found Demetrius Pride, 28, on the front porch of a residence with gunshot wounds. He died at the scene.

Cameras, plate readers and a fast arrest

During the investigation, detectives used the department's Real Time Crime Center and automated license plate readers to identify a possible suspect, police said. Investigators determined the suspect had fled Cleveland and was possibly in Akron. With help from the Summit County Sheriff's Office and the Akron Police Department, they identified Belton as the suspect, and he was arrested within hours of the killings.

Belton is charged with aggravated murder in the deaths of Williams and Pride. His $2 million bond was set at the Tuesday arraignment in Cleveland Municipal Court, WKYC reported. Police have not released a motive, and the investigation is continuing. The case now moves into the court process in Cuyahoga County with the suspect already in custody.

WKYC reported that video from Akron shows Belton's arrest by Akron police. Police released the names and ages of Williams and Pride, and the name of the man they arrested, through the release and the court records. The reports reviewed for this article do not name any other suspect, and police have not said whether anyone else is being sought in the case.