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Joy Lane Speaks out About Missing the Steve Stephens She Once Knew and Why She Still Loves Him

The ex-girlfriend of the 'Facebook Killer' sat down with 'Inside Edition' in a new interview.

When 37-year-old Steve Stephens randomly approached and gunned down 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr., he said Joy Lane was the person to blame for what was about to happen. The tragic shooting of Godwin and Stephens’ rant about Lane were both recorded and uploaded to Facebook.  

Although Lane offered condolences to Godwin’s family, she has not extensively discussed her relationship with Stephens and the aftermath of the abusive manner in which he blamed her for his actions. 

  • Now Lane has sat down in an exclusive interview with Inside Edition to describe Stephens as she once remembered him.

    "I miss the Steve that I knew, not the Facebook killer," Lane told Inside Edition. "I think of him as a good guy who did something really wrong.

    "I believe Steve loved me probably like no man has ever loved me before,” she added. 

    Lane said she’d been living with Stephens for three years. Just days before he went on his murderous rampage, Lane said everything between the couple seemed fine.

    "I was in my bedroom and he was downstairs getting ready for work," she told Inside Edition's Les Trent. "He said, 'Hey, babe,' and I said, 'Hey,' and he said, 'Have a good day,' and I said, 'You, too; have a good day.' "

    However, Lane also detailed the gambling issue that drove a wedge between her and Stephens. She decided to give him a choice: "It's me or the gambling," she said.

  • Although she gave him an ultimatum, Lane had no idea he would react in such a hostile manner. She was even more shocked and upset to learn that he blamed the killing on her.

    "My reaction was pure sadness, because that’s what that man died thinking," she told Inside Edition. "I'm angry at Steve when I hear that."

    Lane has met with the Godwin family to offer her message of support and condolences.

    "Mr. Godwin didn’t deserve this," she said. "His family didn’t deserve this, his children, his grandchildren, his loved ones. They didn’t deserve to feel this type of hurt and pain of missing their loved one."

    Lane does not condone Stephens’ actions and she is still angry that he tried to blame her; however, that does not change the grief she felt when she learned he took his own life during a pursuit with Pennsylvania police.

    "I screamed," Lane said of the moment she heard of Stephens’ death. "I just cried."

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