The Brief
- Half of the suspects in 2026 Fairfax County homicide cases are in the U.S. illegally, records show.
- In the latest case, a 19-year-old El Salvador native was arrested for the killing of a Reston woman.
- It comes as the federal crackdown on illegal immigration sparks friction in some U.S. states.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. – A total of nine people have been killed in eight Fairfax County homicide cases so far in 2026. Reporting shows that half of the suspects in theses cases are in the U.S. illegally.
This year, the following nine homicide victims were identified across eight cases:
- Mamta Thapa, 33, and Binda Thapa, 52, were killed during a Feb. 23 domestic stabbing in Mantua.
- Stephanie Minter, 41, was killed in a Feb. 23 stabbing in Hybla Valley.
- A 3-month-old was killed in a March 27 blunt force trauma incident in Bailey’s Crossroads.
- An unnamed man was killed in a March 29 stabbing in Bailey’s Crossroads.
- Dr. Cerina Fairfax, 49, was killed in a murder-suicide in Annandale.
- Auner Chavez Diaz, 19, was killed in a May 9 stabbing in Huntington.
- Chisen Jameson, 60, was shot and killed during a July 12 domestic incident in Fair Oaks.
- Carmen Lizet Puch, 42, was stabbed to death and found near Great Falls on Aug. 17.
Four of the suspects tied to these eight homicide investigations were identified as undocumented immigrants, accounting for 50% of the cases in the county so far this year.
Suspects identified as illegal immigrants
Dig deeper:
Abdul Jalloh, 32, was arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of Minter. The Sierra Leone native entered the U.S. illegally in 2012 and has more than 30 prior arrests, including for rape, assault and drug possession, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Despite an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removal order filed in 2020 and dozens of arrests in Northern Virginia, local prosecutors dropped charges in most of Jalloh’s prior cases, records show. …