A 23-year-old man has been arrested for stabbing a 15-year-old girl to death and then trying to hide the crime by setting her body on fire in a West Philadelphia alley.
Police say Cole Swaringer-Herring met his victim, Sabriya McLean, on Facebook. The two met face-to-face for the first time on Monday, when the New Castle, Delaware made the 40-mile journey up to West Philadelphia to visit Swaringer-Herring at his parents’ apartment. She had been reported missing at the time.
It was during this visit that police say the older man stabbed McLean more than 50 times.
Cole Swaringer-Herring (left) has been arrested for stabbing 15-year-old Sabriya McLean (right) to death and then burning her body
He then tried to conceal her body by taking it to an alley behind his parents’ house and setting it on fire.
He ran into trouble when the smoke from the blaze set off a fire alarm in the home, and firefighters responded to the scene.
But he was able to conceal the girl’s body by throwing leaves over it and sent the firefighters away.
Swaringer-Herring’s parents were out of the house at the time of the murder, but when they returned that night, he reportedly confessed what he had done.
The incident happened on Monday, when McLean traveled to Philadelphia to meet Swaringer-Herring for the first time at his parents house. He tried to burn her body in this alley behind the home
Police are still investigating a motive for the violent crime
Swaringer-Herring’s parents were out at the time of the murder, but when they returned their son reportedly admitted to the crime. They turned him in the following morning
Philadelphia Police Capt. John Ryan speaks with members of the media in Philadelphia, on Thursday, in connection to McLean’s death
They took him to a nearby police station the next morning.
When investigators came back to the scene, they found McLean’s body and immediately arrested Swaringer-Herring on charges of murder, arson and abuse of a corpse.
They still don’t have a motive for the crime yet.
Because McLean’s murder was so violent, police are now working to see if Swaringer-Herring was connected to any other crimes.
‘It was a very violent act so we’re looking at him in connection to some other possible cases that we’ve had,’ Capt. Jack Ryan told 6ABC.
Swaringer-Herring already has a criminal history. In 2013, he was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to robbery by threat of immediate serious injury.
He was facing another felony robbery case, but that was thrown out in August when a witness failed to appear in court.