What to Know
- A real estate developer died shortly after being stabbed in the back just one block from Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square late Thursday.
- Witnesses told investigators an argument between the victim, who was riding in a car, and the suspect escalated.
- Michael White, a college student, surrendered to police on Friday for the stabbing death of 37-year-old Sean Schellenger.
UPDATE: Michael White has been charged with murder. For the newest details, click here.
A college student has surrendered to authorities over the stabbing death of a Philadelphia real estate developer during a fight about street traffic.
After hugging his sobbing mother and wiping away his own tears, 20-year-old Michael White walked out of True Gospel Tabernacle Family Church in South Philadelphia Friday evening into the custody of a half-dozen police officers.
White turned himself over to police on allegations he stabbed 37-year-old Sean Schellenger at 17th and Chancellor streets in the city's Rittenhouse section nearly 24 hours before.
Schellenger and two friends were riding in a Mercedes-Benz when they got stuck in traffic near Warwick Hotel. Police said the men exited the car and got into an argument with another man over the traffic. A scuffle ensued that ended with Schellenger being stabbed in the back, police said. He later died at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
White is a college student at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, family says. He was making a food delivery on a bicycle at the time of the altercation, according to police.
White didn't speak to reporters gathered inside the church.
Bishop Ernest McNear, who worked with police to set up the peaceful surrender through a program at the church, said White is remorseful.
"He wanted to do the right thing and the family did, too," McNear said. The bishop and other program members said they will meet with White to provide him guidance as the case progresses.
White was taken to Philadelphia Police Headquarters where he will be questioned by homicide detectives. Charges have not yet been filed.
Schellenger was chief executive officer of Streamline, a real estate company in Philadelphia. The company's chief operating officer, Mike Stillwell, told NBC10 in an email, that he worked side-by-side with Schellenger for a decade.
"For 10 years, I spent every day with him - during work, after work, weekends, and every family vacation I had over the last five years sean was there," Stillwell said. "Now, he is gone."
