A Falls Church man pleaded guilty yesterday (Tuesday) in connection to a fatal shooting and stabbing incident at an Idylwood apartment complex last year.
Vladimir Garcia Montes faces up to 40 years in prison for a charge of felony homicide, a form of second-degree murder involving an accidental killing while committing another felony, according to state law. He entered the plea to the shooting death of one of the victims, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office said.
When stopping by the Fairfax County Courthouse, FFXnow was told there was no complaint or documents related to the plea, as of yesterday afternoon. An attorney for Garcia Montes didn’t respond to a request for comment by press time.
Police responded to the Tysons View Apartments in May 2023 after a man was reported shot. The man, 20-year-old Jonas Skinner of Ashburn, was found deceased in a laundry room with a gunshot wound, police said.
Responding officers also found three individuals with stab wounds in the apartment’s parking lot. One of them — Braden Deahl, an 18-year-old student at Arlington’s Washington-Liberty High School — was transported to a hospital and later pronounced dead.
The other two stabbing victims suffered injuries not considered life-threatening, police said.
At the time, Fairfax County police believed the incident to be drug-related, charging Garcia Montes with robbery resulting in death, according to a press release. A backpack with narcotics was located at the scene, as was a “significant amount of marijuana,” police said.
Garcia Montes, who was 18 at the time of the homicides, was indicted by a grand jury on May 20. He’s now scheduled to be sentenced in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Feb. 7 at 10 a.m.
This story has been updated to greater clarify the plea.
