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Jury: Deliveryman not guilty of crime

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A jury found a Philadelphia bicycle deliveryman not guilty Thursday of voluntary manslaughter in the fatal stabbing of a real estate developer in a case with racial implications.

The jury agreed that 22-year-old Michael White acted in self-defense in the July 2018 stabbing of 37-year-old Sean Schellenger during a confrontation sparked by a traffic dispute.

Jurors found White guilty of tampering with evidence — charges that stemmed from throwing the knife onto a roof as he fled and disposing of his bloody clothes.

White, who is black, did not know Schellenger, who was white, and was not involved in the traffic dispute. Schellenger had been drinking with friends at a nearby restaurant before the confrontation with White, who was riding past the traffic dispute.

Prosecutors argued that White inserted himself and escalated the argument by pulling a knife.

White testified that he pulled the knife in self-defense.

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