Fugitive Who Branded Himself 'Relentless' Captured, Held In Christmas Eve Shooting Spree

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One of Detroit’s most wanted fugitives, on the run since an alleged Christmas Eve shooting rampage targeting his children’s pregnant mother and critically wounding his own mother, was captured in Ohio Tuesday.

Jerome Easterly 39, was taken into custody by the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Team, which had received a tip he was in the Columbus area, the Detroit Free Press reports.

Earlier this month, the U.S. Marshals Service moved Easterly – who was known to roam the streets of Detroit armed with a gun and wearing a bulletproof vest – to the top of its most-wanted list, and asked for the public’s help in capturing him.

Easterly’s family members, who also said they’d been shot at by the fugitive, told WXYZ-TV they welcomed his capture.

The alleged shooting spree began Dec. 24, 2014, when Easterly pulled alongside a vehicle driven by his girlfriend, who was pregnant with his child, and fired shots. She ran into a pole, but wasn’t seriously injured. He left, then drove to his mother’s house, where an argument ensued.

Janetta Clark, Easterly’s sister, told the television station she heard six shots on Christmas Eve when her brother allegedly shot their mother.

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“I got to the door and see him sitting there in the car shooting,” Clark said, “ and as I got out of the door, he was speeding off, and he looked me dead in the face and laughed.”

Easterly’s mother, who wasn’t named, sustained significant, long-term injuries. She was shot multiple times – “in the back, the legs, multiple shots in the legs, in the back and in the butt,” her daughter said. Both of her legs have been amputated above the knee.

Easterly’s brother, David, said he was shot by his brother when he was 29.

“I understand the police position, if they get him, that’s what it is,” David Easterly said. “I heard he’s not going to be taken alive.

In the end, though, he surrendered peacefully when a fugitive task force in southern Ohio surrounded the residence where he was staying.

The DFAT credited WXYZ’s report with generating numerous leads into his whereabouts, but said it was a specific tip that led authorities to the residence in Columbia.

Police said Easterly has the word “relentless” tattooed across his chest.

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Michigan Department of Corrections photo