Arrest made in slaying of Delco cab driver

Upper Darby Township police have made an arrest in connection with the Christmas Eve murder of a cab driver.

Ramir Andre Steve - identified earlier this week as a "person of interest" in the slaying of cabbie Gregory Cunningham - was captured yesterday afternoon by Upper Darby police, police said. Steve, who lists multiple addresses in Upper Darby and Philadelphia, had eluded authorities since the shooting.

Police said the investigation into the Monday morning death of Cunningham, 42, of Clifton Heights, led them to one of Steve's addresses: the 7400 block of Rogers Avenue in Upper Darby. There, police found a stolen handgun.

Steve was named as a "person of interest" two days after the cabbie was found dead in a walkway between two buildings at the Park Lane East Apartments. His empty cab, a white Ford Crown Victoria, was found earlier, at 3:21 a.m., at Keystone and Sellers Avenues.

Police said Cunningham was shot in the back of the head. The death was discovered after someone used the cab's two-way radio to make a "taunting, boastful" call about the killing, investigators said.

Police Capt. Michael Kenny said earlier this week that County Cab dispatched Cunningham to a home in the 7400 block of Rogers Avenue in Upper Darby at about 2 a.m. The radio transmission was made at 3 a.m. Monday.

An arrest warrant was issued Dec. 25 for Steve, 19, for a weapons charge after police found the stolen handgun at his Upper Darby home. The handgun was not related to the shooting, police said.

Police said Steve's criminal history includes a juvenile burglary conviction. According to court records, Steve was arraigned on Dec. 18 in Philadelphia on theft and related offenses. A bench warrant was issued Monday, court records said.

A press conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. this morning at Upper Darby police headquarters.