Police say a midnight dispute outside a Shell station ended with one stab wound and a manslaughter arrest.

DUMFRIES, Va. — A Shell gas station employee was charged with manslaughter after police said he stabbed a 20-year-old Woodbridge man during a fight near the pumps in Dumfries early May 17.

Prince William County police identified the man who died as Jonathan David Ferreyra Agapito. Officers said the employee, Michael Orlando Dickey, 42, used a knife during a physical altercation outside the business. Dickey was taken into custody and held without bond as detectives continued to examine what led to the confrontation.

The police account begins shortly after midnight at the Shell station at 17250 Dumfries Road, a commercial stop along a local corridor south of Washington. Officers were called about 12:10 a.m. for a reported stabbing and found Ferreyra Agapito near the gas pumps with a wound to his upper body. Emergency medical crews responded and tried to treat him at the scene, but he was pronounced dead before he could be taken to a hospital. Police said the fight involved Ferreyra Agapito and Dickey, who was working at the station when the dispute unfolded. During the struggle, Dickey allegedly pulled out a knife and stabbed him once. The department did not say whether the encounter began inside the store, near a vehicle or at the pump island.

Dickey’s arrest gave investigators an early suspect, but it did not close the case. Police said he had no fixed address and was charged with manslaughter, a serious felony that alleges an unlawful killing but does not, by itself, accuse a person of planning the death. The exact legal theory will depend on facts that had not been fully released, including who saw the fight, what was said beforehand and whether either man attempted to step away before the knife was used. Police did not announce any other arrests. They also did not say whether the knife was recovered, whether Dickey made a statement after officers arrived or whether surveillance video from the store or pump area had been reviewed.

The location shaped the public view of the case because the violence happened in an ordinary place built for quick stops. The station serves drivers moving along Dumfries Road, people leaving or entering nearby neighborhoods, workers on late shifts and customers passing through Prince William County at night. At 12:10 a.m., a gas station can be one of the few bright and staffed businesses open along a road. Police have not said how many customers or employees were present when the fight began. They also have not said whether anyone tried to intervene, called 911 during the fight or reached Ferreyra Agapito after he collapsed. Those details remain important because the case turns on a short burst of violence in a public setting.

Relatives and friends later described Ferreyra Agapito in terms that went beyond the police record. A family fundraising message identified him as a devoted son, brother and friend, and Oscar Ferreyra said he touched people around him with “warmth and generosity.” The statements described a young man close to his family whose death came suddenly and left relatives preparing for funeral expenses. That family account added a personal frame to a case first reported through basic police details: a time, a location, a suspect, a charge and a fatal wound. For loved ones, the central fact was not the address of the station but the loss of a 20-year-old who had expected to come home.

Investigators still must build a fuller timeline from evidence that has not been made public. In a gas station stabbing case, detectives may seek store video, pump-area camera footage, dispatch recordings, witness interviews, medical examiner findings and forensic testing from any recovered knife or clothing. Each piece can help show where the men stood, whether the fight moved across the property and how quickly the injury occurred. Police said the investigation was ongoing and asked anyone with information to contact the department. No public statement had filled in the motive or explained whether the argument involved a purchase, a personal dispute, a vehicle, a workplace issue or some other cause.

The court process will determine what happens next for Dickey. A no-bond status means he remained in jail after his arrest unless a judge later changed the conditions of release. Prosecutors can continue with the manslaughter charge, seek additional facts from police or adjust the case if later evidence supports a different charge or defense issue. Early reports did not list a confirmed court date. The defense may later challenge the state’s version of events, raise questions about self-defense or dispute whether the evidence supports the filed charge. None of those claims had been tested in court, and police had not released a final investigative finding.

The death also left the Shell station itself as part of the evidence trail. The pump island, pavement, lighting, cashier area and any camera angles could help place the men before and after the stabbing. The first public account said Ferreyra Agapito collapsed and became unresponsive after the wound, placing the final moments outside the store rather than hidden from view. For investigators, that setting may provide more witnesses and records than a private location. For the public, it underscored how a routine stop can become a crime scene with little warning. Police did not describe a robbery, a random attack or a continuing threat to nearby residents.

By the days after the stabbing, the case had moved into two separate tracks. One was official, with detectives collecting evidence and prosecutors preparing for court. The other was personal, with friends and relatives sharing memories of Ferreyra Agapito and trying to support his family. Those tracks may meet only briefly in court hearings, where the details of his death become part of legal arguments. Until then, the public record remains limited to what police have confirmed: a fight near the pumps, one stab wound, one death and one employee charged. The unanswered questions remain centered on what happened in the minutes before officers arrived.

Prince William County detectives continued reviewing the fatal encounter, with the next public step expected through court filings or a police update. The motive for the argument remained unknown.

Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.