UPDATED, 11:55 a.m.

O'FALLON, Mo. -- A six-hour manhunt has ended after police in O'Fallon, Mo., this morning captured a man wanted for the murder of a 12-year-old Madison, Ill., boy.

Police announced just after 10 a.m. today that Marcus T. "Butterhead" Powell, 27, was in custody. Powell was arrested without incident in Runny Meade Estates, a mobile home park, police say.

That ended an intense manhunt that forced the lockdown of several schools and kept residents on edge.

Since Tuesday, Powell has been wanted for questioning by the Major Case Squad in the death of Delarrian Davis, 12, an apparent innocent victim of a shooting early Tuesday in Madison, Ill.

Today's manhunt began about 3:30 a.m. after Powell was spotted driving an SUV on Interstate 70. As police tried to stop his vehicle, he lost control of the SUV. He jumped out and ran away.

The Major Case Squad made the arrest.

About the time the manhunt was going on, authorities in Madison County, Ill., were filing charges against Powell. He was charged with first-degree murder for Delarrian's death and one count of attempted murder, authorities announced at a press conference just before noon. Powell is being held without bond at the St. Charles County Jail, awaiting extradition to Illinois. Two other men were also charged today in non-fatal shootings prior to the boy's death.

Madison County Sheriff's Capt. Brad Wells, who is heading up the Major Case Squad's investigation, said a longstanding street fued led to the shooting that killed Delarrian. The boy was behind a door at his mother's home, apparently doing homework, when he was shot, Wells said.

Wells said police learned about midnight Wednesday that Powell was hiding in a house in Wentzville. Powell led police on a "reckless" pursuit early today, blowing through a police barricade and eventually losing control of his car. He ran from the scene, and the hunt was on.

Bruce Koelling, 44, lives in the Runny Meade subdivision and saw the 10 a.m. arrest in O'Fallon, Mo.

Koelling was waiting for his sister to pick him up when he saw police converge on a small shed. The police pulled a man out in handcuffs, put him in a black SUV and drove off. Koelling said he saw no struggle, but heard plenty of yelling.

"He was screamin' and hollerin' something, I couldn't hear what," Koelling said.

The city of O'Fallon had been on edge all morning as the search unfolded. Police Officer Diana Damke said Powell was considered armed and dangerous.

"Everybody is calling, reporting suspicious this, or suspicious that," Damke said before Powell's arrest. "They maybe heard a sound or noises or they see somebody who is suspicious."

To protect schoolchildren, officials had shut down four schools in the Fort Zumwalt School District. The First Baptist Christian Academy's elementary school and early childhood classes also were canceled, and the St. Louis Archdiocese had put all of its nearby schools on lockdown.

Shortly after Powell ran from the SUV, authorities set up a perimeter -- roughly bounded by Highway K, Bryan Road, Mexico Road and Interstate 70. The search area changed a few times throughout the morning.

Well before sunup, police were stopping trucks and cars and searching them. By 7 a.m., officers were stopping cars as far south as Feise Road. By the time the morning rush hour was in full swing, long lines of traffic clogged both directions along Bryan and Mexico roads. By 9 a.m., deputies were out in force around Peaceful Valley Drive, a cul-de-sac that backs up to a wooded area, after reports that someone saw a man running along a creek nearby.

A half-hour later, the search focus had shifted about four miles away to Runny Meade, where it ended.

Jo and Steve Jeffreys, a married couple who live next to the home with the shed, watched Powell's arrest.

"They stood him up and you could see the whites of his eyes," said Jo Jeffreys, 54.

Steve Jeffreys, also 54, added: "You never think it's going to happen in your neighborhood."

The shed is right outside the mobile home where Zack Fitzgerald, 18, was sleeping this morning when, he said, police officers kicked in his front door. Fitzgerald said they accused him of harboring the suspect because a latch on the shed had been locked from the outside.

"It was intense," he said, still shaking about an hour later. "I've never had 10 guns in my face before."

Fitzgerald said he had nothing to do with the suspect in the shed. Police handcuffed and questioned him, he said, then released him.




Members of a SWAT team emerge from Runny Meade Estates after the capture of Marcus T. "Butterhead" Powell. (Photo by Dawn Majors/Post-Dispatch)



A camouflaged police officer helps out in the manhunt in O'Fallon. (Photo by Huy Mach/Post-Dispatch)



kbell@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8115
jcurrier@post-dispatch.com 636-255-7210





OUR EARLIER STORY

Manhunt Underway In Boy's Murder

By Kim Bell
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH


O'FALLON, Mo. -- A manhunt is underway this morning in O'Fallon, Mo., for a man wanted in connection with the murder of a 12-year-old Madison, Ill., boy.

Police have cordoned off an area near Highway K and Interstate 70 in St. Charles County in their search for Marcus T. "Butterhead" Powell, 27.

At 9 a.m., sheriff's deputies and other police were focused on Peaceful Valley Drive, a cul-de-sac that backs up to a wooded area, after reports that someone saw a man running along a creek nearby.

They then shifted gears and surrounded a mobile home in the Runny Meade Mobile Home Park about four miles away.

By 9:35 a.m., Powell was still elusive -- and a police helicopter was still flying overhead.

To protect schoolchildren, officials shut down four schools in the Fort Zumwalt School District that are nearby. The First Baptist Christian Academy's elementary school and early childhood classes have been canceled, and the St. Louis Archdiocese has put all of its nearby schools on lockdown.

Well before sunup, police were stopping trucks and cars and searching them. Powell is wanted for questioning in the death of Delarrian Davis, 12, an apparent innocent victim of a drive-by shooting early Tuesday in Madison, Ill.

Police say Powell was spotted driving an SUV early this morning on Interstate 70. As police tried to stop his vehicle, he lost control of the SUV. He jumped out and ran away. The search began about 3:30 a.m. today, said O'Fallon Police Officer Diana Damke. There have been no sightings of him since, she said.

"Everybody is calling, reporting suspicious this, or suspicious that," Damke said. "They maybe heard a sound or noises or they see somebody who is suspicious."

Powell was last seen wearing a white shirt and tan shorts. Damke said he may also have a blue Nike pullover or windbreaker. Damke said he's considered armed and dangerous.

After Powell ran from the SUV early today, authorities quickly set up a perimeter -- roughly bounded by Highway K, Bryan Road, Mexico Road and Interstate 70. By 7 a.m., officers were stopping cars as far south as Feise Road. By the time the morning rush hour was in full swing, long lines of traffic clogged both directions along Bryan and Mexico roads.



The Fort Zumwalt School District locked down Fort Zumwalt West High School, a high school inside to the search area, shortly before 6 a.m. because it already had some students inside for an early-morning breakfast program.

And even though the start of the school day was still hours away for the lower grades, superintendent Bernard J. DuBray said he'd recommend that parents not let their children walk to school until authorities have a better idea of where Powell is.

DuBray said West high won't have classes at all today. Those who are inside for the so-called "zero-hour program" will be dismissed once police determine it's safe. DuBray estimated there are "less than a few hundred" students in the high school now.

Rock Creek Elementary is also in the search area, DuBray said.

"It's not shut down yet because they could catch him any minute, but we will make a decision shortly," DeBray said about 6:30 a.m.

Those are the only two schools police had asked DuBray to consider closing, he said.

By 7 a.m., Rock Creek was ordered closed for the day and DuBray had added two more schools to the list of closings because their buses run near the search zone: Fort Zumwalt West Middle School and Dardenne Elementary School.

Shortly before 8 a.m., the St. Louis Archdiocese alerted the media that six of its schools were on lockdown. About four hours later, after parents wondered why their children's schools weren't on the list, the Archdiocese expanded the list to include many more because the boundaries of the search kept changing.

The kids are in the buildings now, and the lockdown means that all doors are locked and no visitors can enter the school without permission. All outdoor recess and activities have also been canceled. The Archdiocese is trying to contact parents to let them know.

Investigators with the St. Louis Area Major Case Squad want to talk with Powell about the murder of Delarrian Davis, the boy killed Tuesday in a spray of bullets fired into his home in Madison, Ill.

Delarrian had been doing his homework when he was killed, police said. Police say the attackers most likely didn't know they had killed a child.

They "just shot into the house," Madison County Sheriff's Capt. Brad Wells told reporters Tuesday. "It's very clear that this 12-year-old child could not have done anything to anybody."

Four children were inside the house at the time of the shooting, ranging in age from 12 to 16. Police wouldn't say if adults were present at the time. The 12-year-old was the only person injured.

Police say the incident happened moments after another shooting less than a quarter-mile from the house, near Route 203 in the parking lot of the Fifth Turn Tavern. The two shootings are related, police said. The violence moved from the parking lot to the house in the 2000 block of Skeen Street.

Powell has addresses in East St. Louis and Pontoon Beach. On Tuesday, police said they thought he could be wounded, but they came up empty after checking area hospitals.

This morning's manhunt in O'Fallon, Mo. not only kept students home from four Fort Zumwalt schools, it also caused a dip in attendance at others nearby.

Fort Zumwalt officials said attendance was down in some elementary schools such as Ostmann, Twin Chimneys and Pheasant Point elementary. These schools were not closed but are near the area of the six-hour search for a murder suspect. Several parents called and told administrators they would bring their child to school after police found the suspect.

The district expects to have final attendance numbers available later this afternoon.


Jessica Bock of the Post-Dispatch contributed information to this report.


kbell@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8115