Michael Garr stabbing: How investigators used DNA to solve the Upper Darby murder
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS) -- Authorities in Delaware County announced arrests in two separate homicides in Upper Darby last year.
One incident killed 15-year-old Michael Garr on April 21 and Mohammad Rahman on Oct. 29, 2023.
Upper Darby Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt said Wednesday 23-year-old Marson Weh was arrested for Garr's murder. Weh was recently arrested in Clifton Heights and extradited to Ohio, where he was wanted for assault and a stolen vehicle.
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Bernhardt said Weh pleaded guilty in Ohio and was sentenced to 9 1/2 years. Weh, who was charged with first-degree murder, will be extradited back to Pennsylvania, according to the Upper Darby superintendent.
Garr, of Drexel Hill, was a sophomore at Upper Darby High School. He was out walking on Bridge Street near Brunswick Avenue when someone stabbed him. A resident who provided security footage to police revealed Garr was followed down Baltimore Pike for a time before the stabbing.
The break in the case comes eight months since Garr was stabbed to death on a Drexel Hill street. The killing rocked the quiet community.
Police said aggressive work by detectives led them to Weh within days of the murder, but there was more forensic work to do before getting to the filing of charges.
Arrest papers show in the early days of the investigation, police tracked down thousands of hours of surveillance video from the area where Garr was walking and identified a person of interest.
The person of interest was seen on a number of cameras following Garr, according to investigators.
Detectives obtained a search warrant and picked up Weh and arrest papers show DNA evidence was collected, including from a stain on a pair of pants Weh was wearing that resembled blood.
Detectives say Weh was still wearing the same pants with the blood stain nearly two weeks after Garr was fatally stabbed and police got an immediate hit from a national database.
Four weeks ago, analysis from that blood-stained pair of pants came back and showed Garr's DNA on Weh's pants.
"It is a miracle," Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said. "Some of the DNA tests that are done take a long time, not all standard tests, some of this is difficult to do."
Weh has also been identified as the suspect in a February 2023 carjacking and stabbing of a pregnant woman in Secane two months before Garr was killed.
The woman spent time in the hospital for stab wounds and has since recovered. Her unborn baby and another child with her that night were not harmed.
Those close to Garr's family say news of an arrest is welcomed relief.
"It's a relief for everybody," Michael Gambol, a friend of Garr's family, said. "Everybody is still concerned, have been concerned for so long."
A Garr family spokesperson sent a statement to CBS News Philadelphia about the news.
"We are very grateful for all the hours the police and detectives worked on this case," the statement reads. "How could our family ever repay them! It's a sad day but we are happy for this development."
Herman Stigall, 20, was arrested in Rahman's murder, Bernhardt said.
No motive has yet been released for either incident.
Rahman, 65, was shot and killed outside the Masjid Al-Madinah, also known as the Upper Darby Islamic Center, on 69th Street.
READ MORE: Suspect arrested in killing of worshiper outside Upper Darby mosque: police
Rahman was a longtime resident of Philadelphia and worked as a correctional officer at Riverside Correctional Facility in Holmesburg.
Officials say the cases are separate and have no connection other than both occurred in Upper Darby.