Police: Woman arrested in stabbing death of South Philly man

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA (WTXF) - Philadelphia police say a woman has been arrested in connection with the death of a 65-year-old man.

Christmas lights lit up the 1200 block of Johnston Street in South Philly Monday night, but some weren't exactly in the holiday spirit after their neighbor Michael Massaro was found stabbed to death in his home.

23-year-old Savannah Pharo has been arrested and charged in Massaro's murder.

"I was just totally taken. I was totally taken by all of it because I never expected anything like this," next-door neighbor Gina Santaguida told FOX 29.

Police were called to Massaro's home just after 1 a.m. Monday. They found the door unlocked and 65-year-old Massaro in his second floor bedroom covered in blood.

"Stabbed in the chest, once," Homicide Captain John Ryan said.

Homicide detectives quickly focused on Pharo who they say had been at the house. They quickly began building their case. Sixteen hours after the homicide, they charged Pharo with Massaro's murder, according to authorities. Police are not sure how Pharo and the victim met.

"We're not really sure of all the details except she was keeping him company and some kind of dispute ensued," Captain Ryan explained.

Investigators would not elaborate further, but neighbors were stunned by the murder on this normally quiet, tight-knit block. Massaro lived here with his family for years, but for the last few he lived in the row home alone.

Police would say little else about the motive; however, they don't believe this was a robbery. The house wasn't ransacked. Sources say after the murder, Savannah Pharo called her boyfriend who drove her from the crime scene.