CLEVELAND, Ohio -  A South Euclid man faces criminal charges in connection with the killing of Cleveland teen Alianna DeFreeze.    

Whitaker, 44, was arrested about 7:15 p.m. in Mayfield Heights by the U.S. Marshals Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, Williams said at the news conference.

Police released his name and photograph as they piece their case together and in the hopes that anyone who has information about Whitaker's whereabouts in the days after Alianna's disappearance will come forward.

Investigators will question Whitaker Thursday night before he is booked into jail, Cleveland police spokeswoman Sgt. Jennifer Ciaccia said. No formal charges have been filed.

Whitaker was identified as a suspect in the case after the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office discovered forensic evidence that led investigators to him, a news release from the Cleveland police department states.

Alianna's manner of death has not been publicly released, and Williams would not speak on the girl's injuries during the press conference.

Williams added that Whitaker has a "lengthy" criminal history. In 2005, he was charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, felonious assault and sexual battery in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, records show. Whitaker ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of sexual battery and one count of felonious assault and was sentenced to four years in prison.

Whitaker's most recent case that passed through the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court was from 2013, court records show.

Whitaker pleaded guilty to an aggravated theft charge in March 2013. In that case, he was sentenced to two years' probation, yet he violated the terms of his probation and was sentenced to six months in jail in December 2013, court records show.

Alianna, who suffered from mental health issues, was reported missing Thursday after she did not show up to school. She got onto an RTA bus about 6:45 a.m. Thursday on the 3400 block of East 149th Street and got off the bus to switch lines at East 93rd and Kinsman Avenue, police said.

Alianna never made it onto the second bus, and she was found dead Sunday evening inside an abandoned home on Fuller Avenue, east of East 93rd Street and south of Kinsman Road.

Authorities are still seeking information about Whitaker's whereabouts over the past week, Wililams said at the news conference. Anyone with information relevant to Alianna's case should contact Cleveland police homicide detectives at 216-623-5464 or Crime Stoppers at 216-252-7463. Tips can remain anonymous.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.