Jamal Kenneth Abeokuto, the city man accused of killing a young Baltimore girl and leaving her beaten body in a wooded area of Harford County this month, was arrested yesterday at an Alabama hotel after a nationwide manhunt.

Police and family members were pleased by the arrest in Birmingham, which they said brought a small measure of comfort after the brutal killing of 8-year-old Marciana Ringo.

"This is like an early Christmas present to us," said Maj. George Klein, commander of Baltimore's warrant apprehension task force. "This capture was basically all we wanted for Christmas."

Abeokuto, 23, of the 5200 block of W. North Ave. in Baltimore has been charged by state police in Harford County with first-degree murder. He also faces federal charges of mailing a threatening communication in connection with a ransom note sent to the girl's family.

Abeokuto is expected to be returned to Baltimore tomorrow or Friday. State prosecutors in Harford County probably will get the first opportunity to try him, officials said.

Harford County State's Attorney Joseph I. Cassilly said that he had not reviewed evidence in the case or decided whether to seek the death penalty.

"I was afraid that he might be out there for a long period of time," Cassilly said. "I hope we can get to work on the case right away."

The killing of the 8-year-old shocked the Baltimore area and garnered national attention on the television program America's Most Wanted.

Yesterday, family members said that they were trying to put the crime behind them as they celebrated the news of Abeokuto's capture.

"I'm so glad they caught him," said Mary Vaddy, 63, Marciana's great-grandmother. "I'm feeling so much better and relieved. ... I just hope the courts and the system do their job."

Police and federal authorities said they were not sure why Abeokuto was in Alabama, but speculated that he might have fled there to avoid detection after authorities said they were concentrating their search for him in the Northeast.

Police said they had been working 20-hour days and had posted photographs of the girl in their office as motivation to keep them going. After nearly two weeks of fruitless searching, they recently began getting breaks in the case.

Abeokuto apparently contributed to his capture when he telephoned people in Baltimore who alerted authorities Sunday and Monday. Investigators tracked the calls to Alabama. At least one call came from a Comfort Inn in a Birmingham suburb, officials said.

By late last night, FBI agents and federal marshals in Alabama learned that Abeokuto had left the Comfort Inn and was staying at the Tourway Inn in Birmingham, officials said.

When federal authorities arrived, Abeokuto told them that he had a gun and would shoot anyone who entered the room, authorities said.

U.S. marshals negotiated with Abeokuto over the telephone for more than two hours -- even permitting a call to his mother in Baltimore -- until he surrendered about 2:50 a.m. Eastern time, authorities said.

"Abeokuto said he was armed, and if anyone came in the hotel room, he would barricade himself in and kill marshals and police if necessary. He was not coming out," said U.S. Marshal for Maryland Johnny L. Hughes. "Between his mother talking with him and the negotiators talking with him, he did surrender peacefully."

Officials declined to confirm a call from Abeokuto to Marciana's great-grandparents' home during the standoff.

Vaddy, the girl's great-grandmother, said her phone rang about 2:05 a.m. and that Abeokuto was on the line, asking to speak to Marciana's mother, Milagro White, who was not there at the time.

Vaddy said the call lasted about two minutes.

"He kept saying, 'Is Milagro there? Is Milagro there?'" Vaddy said. "He said he was with the FBI. I didn't think it was him at first. I thought it might be some kind of trick call."

Vaddy said she used a phone service and determined that the call came from an Alabama area code.

"He said, 'Bye, Mom,' before hanging up," Vaddy said. "I can't believe he had the nerve to call me Mom."

White reported her daughter missing Dec. 3, and authorities believe that White's boyfriend, Abeokuto, was the last to see the girl alive.

Two days after the girl was reported missing, her mother received a ransom note demanding that $5,000 be left in a bag in the men's bathroom in Druid Hill Park "or the girl dies."

Two days later, city detectives charged Abeokuto with illegal possession of a handgun they say they had found in his car. Abeokuto posted bond the next day.

The city police crime lab did not finish processing the ransom note until after Abeokuto had been released. Analysis revealed one of the suspect's fingerprints on the letter, police said.

Mayor Martin O'Malley has conceded that police should have worked more quickly to examine the letter, which might have led to other charges and prevented Abeokuto from being released on bond.

Police and prosecutors got into a public spat over the case. Police said prosecutors would not allow them to charge Abeokuto with murder while they had him in custody on the gun charge.

At the time, police had not recovered the girl's body but said they had strong circumstantial evidence, including a bag containing blood-covered jeans, that they believed linked Abeokuto to the crime.

Prosecutors, in turn, said police had the authority to charge the suspect and that the state's attorney's office was not responsible for his leaving Maryland.

Sun staff writer Gail Gibson contributed to this article.