Negotiations continue with suspected killer 18 stories up

A man sought in connection with his ex-girlfriend's death refused to climb down Thursday from an 18-story crane he ascended the day before at an Atlanta construction site.

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Florida man wanted in his ex-girlfriend's beating death passed the 24-hour mark late Thursday afternoon, perched 18 stories atop a crane at an Atlanta construction site.

At one point in the afternoon, he moved closer to negotiators trying to persuade him to descend. The man, identified by police as Carl Edward Roland, 41, climbed the crane at about 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Authorities had planned to set up a net or airbag below the crane to catch Roland if he fell or jumped, but decided he was too high up for that to be effective.

Roland is wanted in Pinellas County, Florida, in the death of 36-year-old Jennifer Gonzalez, police said.

Her body was found Tuesday in a retention pond. The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said Roland was seen with Gonzalez shortly before her death. After he did not return to his Clearwater, Florida, home, a warrant was issued Wednesday for his arrest.