Commonwealth's Attorney | FFXnow

Former FCPD officer seeks to get charges in fatal Tysons shooting dismissed

Published September 9, 2024 at 2:30PM | Updated September 10, 2024 at 12:51AM

The Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The former Fairfax County Police Department officer who fatally shot a D.C. man suspected of shoplifting two pairs of sunglasses from Nordstrom at Tysons Corner Center might not face a trial after all.

Defense attorneys for Wesley Shifflett filed a motion in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Friday (Sept. 6) seeking to “quash” the grand jury indictment that charged the former police sergeant with involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm for killing Timothy Johnson on Feb. 22, 2023.

News

Driver in crash that killed Oakton HS students sentenced to prison

By Angela Woolsey

Published September 9, 2024 at 9:30AM

An impromptu memorial for the Oakton High School students killed in a crash at Blake Lane and Five Oaks Road (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The driver responsible for a crash that killed two Oakton High School students in 2022 will serve four years in prison, as recommended by a jury in April.

Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Randy Bellows finalized the sentence at a hearing on Friday (Sept. 6) afternoon and ordered that 20-year-old Fairfax resident Usman Shahid also get three years of supervised probation following his release, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office announced.

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JUST IN: Man who killed wife in West Falls Church pleads guilty 33 years later

By Angela Woolsey

Published August 9, 2024 at 1:30PM

Jose Lazaro Cruz has been arrested for allegedly murdering his wife, Ana Jurado, in West Falls Church on April 30, 1991 (courtesy FCPD)

A 60-year-old man pleaded guilty today (Friday) to killing his wife outside her West Falls Church home in 1991.

Jose Larazo Cruz pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after prosecutors made the case at a Fairfax County Circuit Court hearing that he stabbed Ana Jurado on April 30, 1991 during an argument over an affair she was allegedly having, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced.

Countywide

New data dashboard breaks down cases handled by Fairfax County prosecutors

By James Jarvis

Published August 2, 2024 at 9:30AM

Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney has released a new data visualization dashboard that organizes and tracks criminal cases across the county.

The Case Overview Dashboard breaks down the cases handled by local prosecutors based on demographic information, case types, charges and the overall volume.

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Men indicted in Marriott hotel and Burke Lake Park murder cases

By Angela Woolsey

Published May 20, 2024 at 3:45PM

The entrance to the Marriott hotel at 3111 Fairview Park Drive (via Google Maps)

Men arrested last fall in connection to two separate killings were both indicted on murder charges by grand juries today (Monday), the Office of the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney has announced.

Rami El-Sayed, a 34-year-old Vienna resident, per court records, faces a second-degree murder charge for allegedly killing Cara Abbruscato, a 40-year-old Fairfax resident who was found dead in Burke Lake Park’s campgrounds on Sept. 30, 2023.

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JUST IN: Driver convicted in fatal Oakton crash that killed two teens

By James Jarvis

Published April 26, 2024 at 2:50PM | Updated September 7, 2024 at 11:37AM

Fairfax County Courthouse (staff photo by James Jarvis)

The driver behind a 2022 crash that killed two teenagers could serve up to four years in prison.

Earlier this week, 20-year-old Usman Shahid was convicted of two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the June 7, 2022 crash on Blake Lane, where he struck and killed two Oakton High School students while driving 46 mph over the 35-mph speed limit.

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Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney seeking protective order after alleged harassment and threats

By Vernon Miles

Published April 16, 2024 at 10:30AM

Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve T. Descano delivers remarks at a press conference in Fairfax (File photo by Jay Westcott)

Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano is seeking a protective order against a man allegedly making threats against him and his family, WJLA first reported.

The man, whose name was redacted, was prosecuted by Descano’s office for other incidents of harassment and violating protective orders.

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Driver charged with traffic violation for fatal Bailey’s Crossroads motorcycle crash

By Angela Woolsey

Published April 2, 2024 at 3:30PM

Westbound Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) at Glen Carlyn Drive (via Google Maps)

The driver involved in last month’s fatal motorcycle crash on Leesburg Pike (Route 7) has been charged with failing to yield on a left turn.

The Fairfax County Police Department announced yesterday (Monday) that its detectives had arrested the 35-year-old man from Bailey’s Crossroads and charged him with the traffic violation. He was released from custody after being served a summons.

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Mother of motorcyclist killed in West Ox Road crash ‘saddened’ by $50 fine for driver

By Angela Woolsey

Published April 1, 2024 at 9:30AM

Andrew Dearing, a 27-year-old fitness manager at Gold's Gym in Reston, was killed in a vehicle crash on Oct. 25, 2022 (photo by Cason Kimura/Golds Gym)

When Andrea Brubaker entered the Fairfax County Courthouse on Feb. 27, she expected to see a trial with witnesses testifying and evidence presented against the driver who had crashed into her son, killing him, almost one-and-a-half years earlier.

Instead, she watched the driver leave the courtroom after a brief talk with a judge through his son, who translated, to pay a $50 fine for failing to yield on a left turn.

News

Man sentenced to life in prison for Seven Corners murder, arson

By Angela Woolsey

Published March 15, 2024 at 3:50PM

Police are conducting a homicide investigation at The Villages at Falls Church (photo by Ed O'Carroll)

A man convicted of killing a woman at her Seven Corners condominium and setting her body on fire has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge handed down two consecutive life sentences to Richard Montano, 48, today (Friday) after a jury convicted him last October of murdering Silvia “Kelly” Vaca Abacay on Aug. 10, 2022, the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office announced.