A Dumfries station employee stabbed a 20-year-old man once during a physical fight, police.
DUMFRIES, Va. — A public pump area at a Dumfries Shell station became a homicide scene after police said an employee stabbed a 20-year-old man during a fight early May 17.
The victim, Jonathan David Ferreyra Agapito of Woodbridge, was found near the gas pumps and pronounced dead at the station. Police charged 42-year-old Michael Orlando Dickey with manslaughter and said he had been working at the business. Investigators have not said what caused the argument or whether cameras captured it.
The setting is central to the case. The Shell station at 17250 Dumfries Road sits in a public, lighted space where customers can pull in, pay, pump fuel and leave within minutes. Shortly after midnight, that routine space became the focus of a police and medical response. Officers arrived about 12:10 a.m. for a reported stabbing and found Ferreyra Agapito near the fuel pumps with an upper-body wound. Medics responded, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said the injury came after Ferreyra Agapito became involved in a physical altercation with Dickey. During the fight, investigators said, Dickey pulled out a knife and stabbed him once. The department did not describe the position of the men, nearby vehicles or other customers.
A gas station can provide evidence that private locations may not. Pump islands often have overhead lights, cameras, receipts, time-stamped sales, store windows and employees who can see parts of the lot. Police have not confirmed what was available at this station, but those details could matter as detectives build a timeline. Video could show whether the men approached each other, whether the fight began suddenly or whether the argument lasted long enough for others to react. Receipts or transaction records could help place people at the location. Witnesses may remember sounds, gestures or movement before the stabbing. The public report did not include any of that evidence, leaving the cause of the fight and the seconds before the knife appeared unresolved.
Investigators identified the suspect as Dickey, a station employee with no fixed address. He was taken into custody without incident and charged with manslaughter. Police did not say whether he was behind the counter before the encounter, outside on a work task or already near the pumps when the argument began. They also did not say whether he was the only worker present or whether a supervisor was contacted after the stabbing. Those workplace details may help explain how an employee became involved in a fatal physical confrontation with a 20-year-old at the business. For now, police have described the relationship only as one between a customer or visitor and an employee.
The public nature of the scene also shaped the immediate response. Officers and emergency medical crews had to work around a commercial property with fuel pumps, pavement, possible traffic and people who may have been coming or going. Police did not report additional injuries or any continuing danger after Dickey’s arrest. They did not say whether the station closed after the stabbing, how long the scene was held or what evidence technicians collected before it reopened. A fatal stabbing at a gas station often requires investigators to protect a large area, including the place where the victim fell, any path of movement and any spot where a weapon may have been dropped or carried.
Ferreyra Agapito’s death gave the scene a second meaning for his family. Relatives and friends described him as kind, generous and close to those who loved him. Oscar Ferreyra said in a fundraising message that Ferreyra Agapito was a devoted son, brother and friend who put his family first. The message said the family was raising money for funeral expenses after the sudden loss. Those statements did not address what caused the fight, but they marked the human cost of the crime scene. The pump area was not only where police found evidence. It was also where a young man’s life ended and where his relatives’ questions began.
The legal consequences now center on the manslaughter charge. Dickey was held without bond, meaning he remained in jail while the case awaited early court action unless a judge later changed that status. A manslaughter prosecution can depend on fine details of conduct and intent. Prosecutors may look at whether the stabbing was reckless, intentional or claimed as a response to danger during the fight. Defense lawyers may examine the same evidence to challenge the police account or raise another explanation. Police did not release any statement from Dickey, and early reports did not list an attorney for him. No court had made a final finding on the allegation.
The Dumfries location places the case in a busy part of Prince William County, about 30 miles southwest of Washington. Dumfries Road is used by local residents and drivers moving between neighborhoods, workplaces and larger routes. A gas station there can serve people at all hours, especially on weekends. The stabbing was reported just after midnight on a Sunday, a time when fewer businesses may be open but fuel stops remain active. Police have not said whether late-night conditions played any role. They have also not described the encounter as part of a larger pattern, a robbery or a threat to other customers after the arrest.
The case remains marked by what officials have not said. The motive is unknown. The length of the argument is unknown. The number of witnesses has not been released. The status of any surveillance footage has not been made public. Police have not said whether a knife was recovered or whether the men knew each other before that night. Those omissions do not mean investigators lack answers, only that the first public account was limited. The next stage may bring more detail through court filings, preliminary hearings or an updated police statement. Until then, the event is defined by a short official timeline and a broad set of unanswered questions.
For the public, the case stands as a local killing in a familiar setting. For police, it remains an active investigation centered on evidence from a business open to late-night traffic. For Ferreyra Agapito’s family, it is the sudden death of a 20-year-old son, brother and friend. Those realities now move together as the court case against Dickey begins and detectives continue to seek information about the fight.
Dickey remained held without bond after his manslaughter arrest. Police said the investigation was ongoing, and no final public account had explained what led to the fatal encounter near the Dumfries gas pumps.
Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.