A Bronx man accused of gunning down his 25-year-old neighbor inside a West Farms apartment building nearly a year ago is now facing murder charges after being captured in Ohio and extradited back to New York. Christopher Lawton, 36, was arrested and charged in connection with the November 2025 killing of Chanler Reams, according to the NYPD.
Police sources told News 12 Bronx that Lawton allegedly shot Reams inside their apartment building at 2111 Southern Blvd. The shooting happened at around 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2025, according to police.
Officers who responded to the building found Reams unconscious and unresponsive with a gunshot wound to the head, and paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. A separate account of that night, reported by amNY, described Reams as having been found face down on the floor of his unit when first responders arrived.
A Months-Long Manhunt Ends in Ohio
Sources close to the investigation said Lawton fled to Ohio after the shooting, and police sources said he was captured there on May 1. He was not brought back to New York right away — the same police sources said Lawton was extradited to New York City more than five months after his capture, with the NYPD announcing his arrest on Friday.
Lawton now faces a murder charge along with two counts of assault and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon, according to the report. The NYPD has not released information about the relationship between Lawton and Reams or whether the two men lived together, leaving open questions about what led to the shooting.
Bronx Homicides Have Been Trending Down
The killing came amid an otherwise improving picture for violent crime in the borough. The Bronx saw a 14.4% year-to-date decrease in murders through late October 2025, with 89 homicides recorded compared with 104 over the same period the year before, per the same amNY report citing CompStat data.
Case records tied to Bronx prosecutions, including arraignments stemming from indictments like the one Lawton now faces, are tracked publicly through the Bronx District Attorney's arraigned-cases dashboard, which covers criminal cases initiated in Bronx courts since 2019.
