17-year-old arrested for shooting on SEPTA bus that left another teen dead in West Philadelphia

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A 17-year-old suspect has been arrested for a shooting on a SEPTA bus late last month in West Philadelphia that left another teenager dead.

The U.S. Marshals said Thursday that Zayki Davis was taken into custody at an apartment complex in Norristown, Pa.

In his time on the run, he changed his appearance from the photo of him police put out after the shooting.

"Early in the investigation, we had info that he had possibly cut off all his hair. When we went into the apartment today, all his hair was cut off," said Robert Clark, deputy supervisor of the U.S. Marshals.

The shooting happened near 40th Street and Girard Avenue on March 22.

Philadelphia police said the victim, Zahkir Whitfield, was sitting in the back of a SEPTA bus when four juvenile suspects boarded and a fight ensued.

After the bus stopped at 40th Street and Girard Avenue, police said Davis got off and fired a single gunshot that killed Whitfield.

The Marshals say they have been trying to work with the suspect's family to bring this to an end.

"We had given Zayki Davis' family every opportunity to turn himself in, and to be quite honest they were being less than honest with information," Clark said.

But on Wednesday night they got a key piece of information. They learned the murder suspect might be hiding in an apartment building on West Beech Street in Norristown.

The Marshals say they found Davis inside around noon on Thursday, bringing an end to the manhunt.

The victim's family members tell Action News they are relieved Davis has been caught, but sad that two lives have been destroyed.

Whitfield was a student at Upper Darby High School.

"You always see it on the news, it happened to somebody else. So this time it has to be my turn. But, I don't think nobody should have a turn," Whitfield's grandfather, Anthony Overstreet, told Action News in an interview last week.