Man wanted in New Year's Eve triple homicide arrested in McKeesport

A man wanted in the New Year’s Eve slaying of three people — including his ex-girlfriend and her 12-year-old son — was arrested Thursday in McKeesport, about 10 miles from the scene of the Homewood homicides.

Ronald Steave, 29, has been on the run since the Dec. 31 when police allege he killed his ex, Nandi Fitzgerald, 28; her son, Denzel “Buddy” Nowlin Jr.; and 28-year-old Tatiana “Tay” Hill.

U.S. Marshals, Pittsburgh and McKeesport police, and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms took Steave into custody just after 5:10 p.m., authorities said.

Details as to what led investigators to McKeesport were not immediately available, nor were details regarding how he was taken into custody.

Gunfire about 4 a.m. the morning of the killings prompted neighbors on Hamilton Avenue to call police, who arrived at the row house and found Fitzgerald just inside the front door, according to the criminal complaint. Officers found the child had attempted to hide behind a door, while Hill was hiding under a bed, according to the complaint. All were dead at the scene.

City surveillance cameras captured someone leaving the home just before 4 a.m., according to the complaint. The person got into a Nissan Altima, which police tracked back to Steave. Shell casings that matched those at the Homewood scene were found in the car when investigators found it later that morning.

Cellphone records also showed a series of confrontational text messages between Steave and Fitzgerald, and photos from her phone showed Steave at the row house the night of the shooting, police said.

In the criminal complaint against Steave in the Homewood homicide, investigators wrote that Steave was wanted for an interview regarding the death of his son, 4-year-old Adjene Lane.

Police say the toddler shot himself with an unsecured gun in November at a home in East Liberty. No charges have been filed in that incident, and Fitzgerald had no connection to that situation.

Court records did not list an attorney for Steave as of early Thursday evening.