In the early hours of New Year's Eve 2021, a tragedy unfolded in a home in Pittsburgh's Homewood South neighborhood that would claim three lives and leave a family shattered. Nandi Fitzgerald, a 28-year-old female, was found shot and killed inside her residence. The devastating discovery did not end with her; also found deceased were her 12-year-old son, Denzel 'Buddy' Nowlin Jr., and her 28-year-old friend, Tatiana 'Tay' Hill.
The triple homicide sent shockwaves of grief and outrage through the community.
The family had already been grappling with a recent tragedy. Just months prior, in June 2021, Nandi's 6-year-old son had died in an accidental drowning at a hotel pool. This profound loss was still fresh when Nandi and her older son were violently taken. According to her mother, Nandi was an amazing mom who loved her boys deeply. The loss left her two surviving young children without their mother and older brother.
In the wake of the killings, investigators quickly focused on a suspect: Ronald Steave, the 32-year-old father of one of Nandi's children. Evidence connected Steave to the crime scene, including camera footage of his car near the home that night and the discovery of gunshot residue and blood on his vehicle. Investigators also found that shell casings at the scene matched ammunition found in Steave's car and home. An arrest warrant was issued for Steave in January 2022, and he was taken into custody in March of that year.
The legal proceedings that followed painted a grim picture of the events that transpired. Prosecutors alleged that in the early morning hours of December 31st, something went 'horribly wrong' between Steave and Nandi. They argued that Steave shot Nandi in the foyer of her home before proceeding upstairs to kill her son, Denzel, and her friend, Tatiana. The prosecution initially sought the death penalty but later withdrew the request.
In November 2024, Ronald Steave was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of a person not to possess a firearm. A judge delivered the verdict after a nonjury trial. The defense had put forward a theory that Nandi had killed her son and friend before taking her own life, but the judge dismissed this, citing a lack of corroborating evidence. In January 2025, Steave was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole. During the sentencing, family members of the victims delivered emotional impact statements, remembering their loved ones and decrying the senseless violence that took them.
