A South Burlington man suspected of killing his longtime girlfriend, Anako Lumumba, in May 2018 has been placed on the U.S. Marshals’ list of the country’s 15 most wanted fugitives.
Leroy Headley, 38, fled Vermont following the shooting, and was last known to be in Albany, New York, where he apparently dropped his car and the gun used in the homicide. Headley had two children with Lumumba, who worked as a nurse in the Burlington area.
“Leroy Headley’s alleged crimes have earned him a spot on this exclusive list we reserve for fugitives we consider the worst of the worst,” U.S. Marshals Service Director Donald Washington said in a statement released Monday morning.
“We want his elevation to 15 Most Wanted to send a message that our investigation to find him is a top priority. We will use every available resource to bring him to justice,” Washington added.
The U.S. Marshals have released little information since taking over the manhunt from South Burlington police soon after the killing. The Marshals said in April that Headley may be in Philadelphia, but didn’t say why.
The Marshals said said Headley has personal ties to Jamaica, where he was born, as well as Las Vegas, Nevada, parts of Massachusetts, Florida, and possibly Montreal and Toronto, in Canada.
The Marshals are offering a $25,000 reward to information leading to Headley’s arrest, with an additional $75,000 being offered by other donors.
Headley is a 5 foot-7 inch black man with a slight Jamaican accent. The Marshals called him a “modern-day Casanova.”
“He frequents dating sites and has a track record of womanizing, which may help him hide in plain sight as he forms relationships with women who do not know his true identity,” Marshals said in a statement about his placement on its most-wanted list.
Headley was facing trial in Vermont over teen sex charges. Lumumba said in reports to police that his behavior was becoming increasingly erratic and threatening as that trial neared.
She told police months before the killing that she feared for her life. “I am afraid that he physically threatens me because he is in possession of a loaded gun and what he says at times is very disturbing and unsettling,” she wrote in a request for a relief from abuse order on Dec. 2, 2017.
Police made unsuccessful attempts to seize Headley’s firearms, but then gave up when the temporary relief from abuse order expired because Lumumba failed to appear in court for a hearing on a permanent order.
Lumumba’s killing sparked a statewide conversation about how domestic violence victims are represented and supported in the legal process.
Attorney General TJ Donovan said after Lumumba’s killing that he would look into the possibility of providing domestic violence victims with attorneys during the relief from abuse process. Earlier this month, he said policymakers should take a more deliberative approach to the problem that focuses on housing and caring for children.
The attorney general said seizing guns in cases when relief from abuse orders are issued would be a priority this coming legislative session. “That is a critical time for safety for these women, and time is of the essence,” he said.