An arrest has been made in the deadly stabbing of a 15-year-old boy in Delaware County.
Marson Weh, 24, was arrested and charged in the murder of 15-year-old Michael Garr, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer and Upper Darby Police Superintendent Tim Bernhardt announced during a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
On April 21, 2023, around 9:30 p.m., Garr -- a student at Upper Darby High School -- was found bleeding from a stab wound to the chest along the 200 block of Bridge Street in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.
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A neighbor said she heard a man screaming for help. The man had told her that Garr was banging on his car, bleeding. Neighbors and responding medics tried to revive him but the teen was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s terrible. It’s a disgrace where we are in society with kids,” Upper Darby Police Superintendent Tim Bernhardt said at the time. “How do you get to a point to where kids this age can commit an act of violence like this? There are no words to explain it. Our hearts go out to the family. We ask that everyone keeps the family in their hearts and prayers.”
Two days later, Upper Darby Police tweeted a photo of a couple they wanted to speak with in connection to the investigation. The couple was walking hand-in-hand on Bridge Street and passing Anne Street at 9:39 p.m. on the night of the teen's death.
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With help from the public, investigators identified and spoke with the couple but they were unable to provide information on the murder, officials said.
Detectives continued to analyze thousands of hours of surveillance video. They then spotted a man on video on the night of Garr's murder who ran from the 200 block of Bridge Street towards Burmont Road and then towards Baltimore Pike. That man then fled west towards the 100 block of Willowbrook Avenue in Clifton Heights, investigators said.
Investigators later identified the man in the surveillance video as Marson Weh. At the time, Weh was wanted out of Ohio for unrelated assault and vehicle theft charges, officials said.
Undercover officers began working in Clifton Heights as the investigation continued. Then, 11 days after Garr's murder, the officers spotted Weh leaving a home on the 100 block of Willowbrook Avenue, according to investigators. Officials said Weh was wearing the same clothes as the man who was spotted on surveillance video the night of Garr's death.
Weh was taken into custody and refused to cooperate with police, officials said. He was then extradited to Ohio where he pled guilty to the unrelated assault and stolen vehicle charges. He was then sentenced to 9 ½ years in prison on those charges. He will later be extradited back to Upper Darby where he'll face charges of criminal homicide, murder and possession of an instrument of crime in connection to Garr's death, investigators said.
Police also executed a search warrant at the Clifton Heights home where Weh was seen leaving. They submitted evidence from the home to a Philadelphia Police crime lab. Police said the evidence linked Weh to Garr's murder as well as an unrelated incident on Feb. 7, 2023, on the 100 block of South Bishop Avenue in Upper Darby in which a pregnant woman who was with a child was attacked and stabbed as she exited her vehicle. Her vehicle was later stolen and recovered in Clifton Heights near the same home that Weh was spotted leaving from, investigators said.
At this point, investigators have not yet determined a motive in Garr's murder.
'Outpouring of love and support' for Michael Garr
Michael Garr was a student at Upper Darby High School, the Upper Darby School District said in a Facebook post.
Days after his death, Garr's family and friends gathered in Drexel Hill to honor the teen, creating a memorial for him and writing messages on the sidewalk.
"We are completely devastated by the loss of Michael Jr.," Garr's uncle, Michael Peabody, said. "The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming. Please continue to hold our family in your hearts and prayers as we continue to navigate through this tragedy."
The Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 27 offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Garr's death.
In a statement, Joseph Fitzgerald, president of the FOP lodge, called the teen’s murder “a senseless act of violence.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with this teen’s family,” he said in a statement. “This case will get closed with a tip from the public, so call Upper Darby police with any information."
In addition to announcing charges in Garr's murder, Stollsteimer and Bernhardt also announced an arrest on Wednesday in the unrelated October murder of Mohammad Rahman outside of a mosque in Upper Darby.
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