Teen arrested in Easter Sunday shooting on South Street that killed Boys' Latin sophomore

Police on Wednesday arrested an 18-year-old male wanted in an Easter Sunday shooting on South Street that killed a 16-year-old Boys' Latin of Philadelphia Charter School sophomore.

Zahmir White is in custody in the death of William Bethel IV, who was shot about 5:50 p.m. April 1 along the 800 block of South Street in Bella Vista, Homicide Capt. John Ryan said. Bethel later died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

Acting on a tip, police captured White around 6 a.m. Wednesday at a relative's home on North Wilton Street in West Philadelphia, Ryan said. White is expected to be processed on charges of murder and gun offenses.

A police spokesman, Capt. Sekou Kinebrew, said he hoped the arrest would bring "healing and closure" to the victim's family and friends. "He was a popular student at school, liked by everybody."

White, nicknamed "Pikachu," told police when he was arrested that he lived on the 5800 block of Race Street in West Philadelphia, Kinebrew said. Police also had other addresses for White, including the 900 block of South Fifth Street in Queen Village. Police had been seeking his whereabouts and said his family had not been cooperative.

Ryan previously said that the shooting stemmed from a small fight or argument between two groups on South Street that day. The dispute was about a woman, Ryan said, without elaborating. "Words got exchanged. One teen shot another," he said.

Bethel, of Roxborough, previously lived in South Philadelphia and still had friends there. Boys' Latin, in West Philadelphia, has described Bethel as a scholar-athlete who was on the honor roll and participated in boxing, football, and basketball.

He was part of the school's inaugural middle-school class that started in fall 2013. "Bill was loved and respected by his peers and teachers," the school said in an announcement. "He was a leader with a warm heart and gentle smile."