Ronald Steave, Man Wanted In Homewood South Triple Homicide, Suspected In Other Shootings
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- U.S. Marshals are joining the search for a man wanted in a triple homicide on New Year's Eve in Homewood South and suspected in several other shootings.
Pittsburgh Police issued an arrest warrant for 29-year-old Ronald Steave over the weekend. He is facing three counts of criminal homicide and weapons violations.
Steave is accused in the deaths of Nandi Fitzgerald and Tatiana Hill, both 28, and 12-year-old Denzel Nowlin Jr.
Pittsburgh police were initially called to the 7500 block of Hamilton Avenue around 4 a.m. on December 31 for reports of shots fired. Officers found a woman who had been shot in the head. The two other victims were found in a home.
Steave is no stranger to police. They've been looking to speak with him since Nov. 22 when his 4-year-old son Ajani Lane shot and killed himself with a gun. According to an affidavit, police that day found two guns in Steave's upstairs bedroom.
Steave was arrested on criminal homicide charges in 2015 in the murder of a 19-year-old man in Homewood. Though those charges were later dropped for lack of evidence, police sources say he is suspected in connection with at least three other fatal shootings.
According to the affidavit, Steave makes rap videos under the name of Shady Higgler and was known to his New Year's Eve victims as Higg. In text messages recovered from her phone, Nandi Fitzgerald complains Steave doesn't visit their son or pay his child support. She threatens to go to police about homicides he has allegedly committed — the suspected motive for the murders.
"There's a lot of pain in this community and there's a lot of individuals who we need to make sure are not in this community, because they're a threat to us," said community activist Randall Taylor.
The triple homicide on Hamilton Avenue capped an especially violent year which saw murders in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County reach record numbers. Police say Steave is among the most dangerous criminals still at large.
"We can end gun violence. We can end these meaningless tragedies if we come together as a city," said Taylor.
Pittsburgh Police have posted a U.S. Marshals' wanted poster for Steave to their Facebook and Twitter pages. They say a reward is available. Sources say he may be out of state.
If you any information regarding his whereabouts, you are urged to call the Marshals at 412-861-1845.
