Police said Michelle Fleming was stabbed 12 times inside a State Road home before her son was arrested in Springfield Township.

UPPER DARBY, Pa. — A 20-year-old Upper Darby man was charged with murder after police said his mother was found stabbed to death Monday inside a Delaware County home.

Quadir Ford is accused of killing Michelle Fleming, 51, during an argument at a residence on the 4600 block of South State Road in Drexel Hill. Police said the case moved quickly from a reported medical emergency to a homicide investigation after officers saw multiple stab wounds and learned Fleming’s cellphone and vehicle were missing.

Officers were first called to the home Monday afternoon for a report that a woman was in cardiac arrest. When police arrived, they found a man outside yelling that his mother was dead, according to accounts of the criminal complaint and statements from Upper Darby Township Police Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt. Officers entered the home and found Fleming unresponsive. Bernhardt said it was clear she had suffered multiple stab wounds. He later said Fleming had been stabbed 12 times in the chest. The discovery turned the quiet residential block into a crime scene as police taped off the area and began searching for another person connected to the household.

The investigation soon focused on Ford, another of Fleming’s sons. Police said Ford had been at the home earlier in the day and had left in Fleming’s 2013 GMC Arcadia with her phone. An unidentified witness told investigators that Fleming and Ford were inside the home before the witness left for work. When the witness returned shortly after 4 p.m., Fleming was found in the kitchen and the phone and vehicle were gone. The witness used a locator app to track the missing phone to the 100 block of Baltimore Pike in Springfield Township, according to court documents described in local reports. Officers went to that area and later found a vehicle matching Fleming’s GMC traveling on the 700 block of West Sproul Road.

Springfield Township police stopped the vehicle and took Ford into custody. Investigators said the arrest happened about 20 miles north of the Upper Darby home. After he was detained, Ford spoke with investigators and admitted that he killed Fleming with a silver knife after an argument, according to the criminal complaint described by multiple local outlets. Police said Ford also told them he placed the knife, gloves and a mask in a trash can behind the South State Road property. Investigators later recovered those items. Court documents described the knife as having blood on it when it was found. Police have not released a full account of the argument or said what they believe caused the dispute to turn deadly.

The charges filed against Ford include first-degree murder, third-degree murder, criminal homicide, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. The theft counts are tied to the missing vehicle and cellphone, according to court records cited in reports. Ford was placed in Delaware County Prison without bail. The filing of first-degree murder signals that prosecutors allege an intentional killing, though Ford has not been convicted of any charge. No public report reviewed for this story said whether he had entered a plea or whether an attorney had been listed for him after his arrest.

Bernhardt described the killing as a family tragedy and said police had prior contact with Ford, though not for a domestic incident between Ford and Fleming. He said investigators learned that Ford and his mother had a strained relationship. “The two of them were very accusatory toward each other over the course of the years,” Bernhardt said. He called the case “a sad, sad state of affairs” when family members resort to violence. Police also said there was no ongoing threat to the surrounding community after Ford was arrested.

The killing drew attention across the Philadelphia region because of the speed of the search and the relationship between the victim and suspect. The first call to police suggested a medical crisis, but investigators soon treated the home as a homicide scene. The witness’s use of a phone locator helped shift the case beyond Upper Darby and gave police a location to begin looking for Ford. That trail led to Springfield Township, where officers said they connected the missing phone, the vehicle and the suspect within hours of Fleming being found.

Local reports said the case unfolded on May 4, with Fleming pronounced dead at the scene around 4:30 p.m. The 4600 block of South State Road remained blocked for hours while detectives worked at the home. Neighbors saw a heavy police response, including officers, vehicles and crime scene tape. Early police statements called the incident domestic-related before the victim and suspect were publicly identified. Authorities later named Fleming and Ford and described them as mother and son.

Ford was scheduled for a preliminary hearing on May 19, court records cited in reports said. At a preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania, prosecutors must present enough evidence for a judge to decide whether the charges should move forward. The hearing can include testimony from police and other witnesses, but it is not a trial. As of the latest public reports reviewed for this story, no later account described the outcome of that scheduled hearing. The case remains in Delaware County’s criminal court system.

Investigators have not said whether anyone saw the stabbing, how long the argument lasted or whether Ford made any statements about a motive beyond describing an argument and a strained relationship. Police also have not released more information about the mask and gloves they said were recovered with the knife. Those items, along with the reported confession and the tracking of the missing phone, are central pieces of the public record so far.

The next public milestone is any docket update or court filing showing what happened after the May 19 preliminary hearing date. Ford remained jailed in Delaware County as the murder case moved forward.

Author note: Last updated May 25, 2026.