{"id":251759,"date":"2026-07-25T09:11:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/251759\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T09:11:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T09:11:24","slug":"teen-sentenced-to-up-to-40-years-in-prison-for-fatal-septa-bus-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/251759\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen sentenced to up to 40 years in prison for fatal SEPTA bus shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A teenager who pleaded guilty to killing another teen on a SEPTA bus in West Philadelphia<\/a> was sentenced Friday to decades in prison, as the victim’s family reflected on their loss and addressed the court.<\/p>\n

Zayki Davis<\/a>, 18, who pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, was sentenced to 10 to 40 years in prison in connection with the death of 15-year-old Zahkir Whitfield<\/a>. Davis was 17 at the time of the shooting and was charged as an adult.<\/p>\n

Family members of Whitfield attended the sentencing hearing, including his grandparents, who spoke about the impact of his death.<\/p>\n

“He’s still in my heart. He’s with me everywhere I go,” said Edith Overstreet, Whitfield’s grandmother.<\/p>\n

Anthony Overstreet, Whitfield’s grandfather, said he was satisfied with the sentence but noted the lasting consequences for both families.<\/p>\n

“I was satisfied with the sentence, but on the same side, both sides lost,” he said.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors showed video of the March 2025 shooting on a SEPTA bus at the intersection of 40th Street and Girard Avenue in West Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

The victim was part of a group of teens who had gotten into a fight with Davis’ group, according to the prosecution. Video shown in court depicted Davis getting off the bus, pulling out a gun, then re-boarding the bus and firing a single shot. The bullet struck Whitfield in the chest.<\/p>\n

Whitfield was 15 years old when he was killed.<\/p>\n

“I see my grandson every day,” Anthony Overstreet said through tears. “Every time I see a kid, I see my grandson because they’re trying to do something positive, and then something strikes them down.”<\/p>\n

The judge also heard statements from five people, including Whitfield’s mother, who spoke about the pain of burying her son on what would have been his 16th birthday.<\/p>\n

Davis’ family members attended the hearing as well. During the proceedings, Davis expressed remorse, saying, “I’m sorry for all the pain I caused… I think about it every day.”<\/p>\n

Whitfield’s family said they want people to remember him for who he was rather than the circumstances of his death, describing him as a positive teenager who loved joking around and playing basketball. His sister said that while many people know the case, their family remembers the child they lost.<\/p>\n

“I just love him, and I miss him so much,” Edith Overstreet said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the murder sentence, Davis received an additional sentence of 2 to 5 years for reckless endangerment and was sentenced to five years of probation on a gun charge.<\/p>\n

Whitfield’s mother also delivered what was described in court as an emotional statement that included telling Davis that she forgives him.<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — A teenager who pleaded guilty to killing another teen on a SEPTA bus in West…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251760,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[107598,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-251759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-107598","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}