YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A Pennsylvania man wanted in connection with a triple homicide will voluntarily go back to the Keystone State to face criminal charges.
The father of a four-year-old girl accused of going on a killing spree over visitation issues seemed subdued as he was brought into a Mahoning County court.
He agreed to return to state where he had just fled two days earlier.
Thirty-five-year old Kevin Cleeves was escorted into court shackled and handcuffed.
He is accused of going on a violent rampage killing his estranged wife, her boyfriend and her boyfriend's mother on Friday.
Defense Attorney Ross Smith explained Cleeves' rights to an extradition hearing. When the magistrate questioned whether Cleeves understood his rights, whether he is voluntarily agreeing to go back to Franklin County, Pennsylvania to face criminal charges, Cleeves spoke softly but clearly.
Magistrate: "You're giving up that right and agreeing to voluntarily return to Franklin County, Pennsylvania with authorities from that jurisdiction. Do you understand that?"
Cleeves: "Yes, sir."
Police had tracked Cleeves, who fled with his four-year-old daughter, to a Best Western in Austintown off Routes 80 and 46.
Police say Cleeves was on his way to drop his daughter off with relatives in Michigan.
Austintown Police and the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force arrested Cleeves at a Walgreens with his daughter in the seat beside him on Saturday morning.
Charges for driving while under the influence and for illegal possession of a firearm in Austintown will be dismissed since the charges are more serious in the Commonwealth.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Department has until Wednesday August 8th to pick Cleeves up from the Mahoning County Jail.
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