Police: Triple homicide suspect in Pittsburgh's Homewood had child with one of the victims

A man who Pittsburgh police say is responsible for a New Year’s Eve triple homicide in Homewood had been in a relationship with one of the victims and the two had a child together, according to a criminal complaint against him.

Ronald Steave, 29, is charged with three counts of homicide in connection with the deaths of Nandi Fitzgerald and Tatiana “Tay” Hill, both 28, and Fitzgerald’s 12-year-old son, Denzel “Buddy” Nowlin Jr.

Police said in the criminal complaint against Steave that he and Fitzgerald have a child together, though it does not indicate that child was involved in incident. Steave is also the father of Adjene Lane, the East Liberty 4-year-old who police say shot himself with an unsecured gun in November, police noted, though Fitzgerald was not involved in that situation. Detectives wrote in the complaint that the investigation into Lane’s death is ongoing and Steave “has not yet been located for interview/cooperation.”

In the New Year’s Eve incident, the three were found dead in a Hamilton Avenue row house after a 911 caller reported gunfire in a neighboring home just after 4 a.m. Police found Fitzgerald just inside the front door, her son behind a door and Hill hiding under a bed, according to the complaint.

City surveillance cameras captured someone leaving the row house about 3:53 a.m., according to the complaint. The person got into a Nissan Altima with the headlights off, made a three-point turn and drove off. Police tracked the vehicle on several streets using the camera system, tracing the license plate back to Steave.

Investigators said they found the Nissan in McKeesport later that morning, according to the complaint. Inside were shell casings that matched those found at the Homewood scene and fingerprints that matched Steave’s.

Cellphone records showed a series of text messages between Steave and Fitzgerald in the hours leading up to the shooting, and police said photos on Fitzgerald’s phone showed herself, Hill and Steave together that night.

Text messages from Fitzgerald to Steave said Steave would be “going to jail for some (expletive) you probably thought you was gonna get away with,” and “go get you a lawyer homie,” according to the complaint.

An anonymous tip indicated Steave had blood on his shirt after the shooting and that he and a possible accomplice had already fled the state, according to police. Investigators later found and searched the vehicle of the possible accomplice and found a coat with blood on it in the driver’s seat, blood on the seat itself and even more blood on the passenger seat, according to the complaint.

Investigators said such patterns would be consistent with Steave getting into the front passenger seat of the car immediately after the shootings, according to the complaint, and also corroborated the anonymous tip police received.