Michael White was acquitted for voluntary manslaughter for killing Sean Schellenger near Rittenhouse Square in 2018.
White was sentenced on Thursday to two years of probation for throwing a knife, which was used during the killing, onto a West Philly rooftop after fleeing the scene.
Inquirer.com reports that Common Pleas Court Judge Glenn B. Bronson will likely mark the end of the criminal case against White, 22. The case hit a nerve with a divided city.
At White’s October trial, he was convicted of evidence tampering. During his testimony, he said he had stabbed Schellenger in self-defense. The incident took place at Chancellor Streets and 17th street, Inquirer.com, reported.
White tossed the knife and threw his backpack and bloody tee-shirt into a trash can. He was working a bicycle food courier at the time. The sentencing fell within the guidelines for a misdemeanor crime. White also cooperated with authorities after tossing the evidence.
White explained to Bronson that he realized tossing the evidence was not the right thing to do, turned himself in and told lawyers where he had thrown the evidence. Police were able to recover the knife.
According to Inquirer.com, Bronson ruled that the Schellenger family would not be able to describe how the incident impacted them because it didn’t prove that White’s stabbing of Schellenger was a crime.
The victim’s mother, Linda Schellenger, shared a statement to the media, which read, “Our life sentence began on July 12, 2018, when Sean was fatally stabbed with a deadly weapon.”
Schellenger’s family has been very critical of how DA Larry Krasner handles everything. She made a previous charge at Krasner.
Bronson said earlier this week that Schellenger’s death “was a senseless and tragic event.”
It was reported that White got into a dispute with Schellenger and plunged the knife into his back after the victim tried to tackle White. White pulled the blade out of Schellenger, and fled the scene, before tossing the evidence.
White will be back in court next week for a different case from 2017. He was accused of stealing a bike from the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. He was already on probation prior to being charged with murder.
