The Oakton driver behind a 2022 crash that killed two teenagers has been sentenced 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.

A jury proposed the sentence today (Friday) after issuing its verdict Wednesday (April 24).

“At trial, prosecutors proved that Shahid’s high rate of speed and lack of evasive action to avoid the situation were responsible for both the initial crash and the subsequent pedestrian collision,” the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

Multiple news outlets reported that, during the trial, prosecutors stated Shahid was driving his BMW at 81 mph on Blake Lane shortly before noon on the day of the crash. Students had been released early that day with the end of the school year approaching.

Upon seeing a yellow traffic light, Shahid accelerated and collided with a Toyota 4Runner that was turning left. Police testified that the collision forced Shahid’s vehicle off the road and onto the sidewalk, where it struck three teenage girls.

According to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, a crash expert testified during the trial that the data recorder in Shahid’s vehicle showed he accelerated from 60 to 81 mph in the five seconds before the crash as he approached the intersection. The recorder also indicated that Shahid didn’t attempt to brake.

Two of the victims, 14-year-old Ada Gabriela Martinez Nolasco and 15-year-old Leeyan Hanjia Yan, died of their injuries, while a third teen was seriously hurt.

“This is one of the most tragic cases in Fairfax County’s history,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in the release. “I have a daughter just a few months younger than Ada and Leeyan were – and I can’t imagine how broken I would be in her absence. My heart breaks for the families, friends, and loved ones of these young girls. While there is nothing that can make up for such an immense loss, I hope that this conviction can help our community finally begin to heal from this tragedy.”

A judge will finalize the sentence — which could be lower but not higher than the jury’s determination — later this year.

(Updated at 8:25 p.m.) A motorcyclist was killed last night (Wednesday) in a two-vehicle crash just outside the Rolling Valley shopping mall in Burke, police say.

Officers and a Fairfax County Fire and Rescue medic were dispatched to the intersection of Old Keene Mill Road and Shiplett Blvd around 10:05 p.m. for a crash involving a motorcycle and car, according to scanner traffic on Open MHz.

According to a dispatcher, 911 callers reported that the motorcyclist didn’t appear to be moving or conscious.

“Driver…kept saying he didn’t see him,” the dispatcher said.

The motorcycle driver, identified as 50-year-old Burke resident Mohab Helmy, was declared dead at the scene, the Fairfax County Police Department said in a news release.

The intersection was closed to traffic as police investigated the crash until 1:43 a.m. today (Thursday).

Based on a preliminary investigation, detectives believe Helmy crashed into the driver’s side of a 2005 Toyota sedan while traveling west in the left through-lane of Old Keene Mill Road on a 2007 Yamaha motorcycle, the FCPD said.

The Toyota driver was attempting to turn left onto Old Keene Mill out of the Rolling Valley shopping center when the crash occurred, according to police.

“The driver of the Toyota remained on scene and was uninjured,” the police department said. “[Crash Reconstruction Unit] detectives continue to investigate the crash.”

This is Fairfax County’s second fatal motorcycle crash in 2024 after a 19-year-old man died last month in a crash on Leesburg Pike (Route 7) in Bailey’s Crossroads. The driver in that March 10 collision was charged with failing to yield while making a left turn.

Overall, 10 people have been killed in vehicle crashes this year, not including pedestrians — doubling the five fatalities recorded at this time in 2023, according to the FCPD.

UPDATE: The intersection is now open. Follow our blog for available updates at https://t.co/XTgRJykwD5

— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) April 25, 2024

A 23-year-old man from Arlington has been charged with manslaughter in connection to a Feb. 16 crash in Bailey’s Crossroads that resulted in the death of a 93-year-old woman.

The Fairfax County Police Department announced on Thursday (April 4) that its detectives believe Isai Jimenez Paz was speeding when he allegedly crashed into a Toyota Corolla at the Leesburg Pike and South Jefferson Street intersection.

“[He] was driving a Toyota GR86 at a high speed westbound on Leesburg Pike,” the FCPD said in an updated news release. “The driver of a Toyota Corolla attempted a left turn onto a service road near South Jefferson Street from the eastbound lane of Leesburg Pike. Jimenez Paz struck the Corolla.”

The occupants of both vehicles, including the drivers and one passenger in each, were all transported to nearby hospitals for treatment. Falls Church resident Gladys Bilbao, the Corolla passenger, died from her injuries on Feb. 21.

Jimenez Paz, his passenger and the Corolla driver have since been discharged from the hospital, according to police.

Detectives arrested Jimenez Paz and charged him with involuntary manslaughter on April 3, the FCPD said. Released from custody on a secured bond, he’s scheduled for an arraignment this Wednesday (April 10) and a preliminary hearing on July 15, according to Fairfax County General District Court records.

There have been two fatal crashes on Leesburg Pike this year, both of them in the Bailey’s Crossroads area. Police also announced last week that the driver in a crash that killed a motorcyclist at Glen Carlyn Drive on March 10 has been charged with failing to yield on left turn.

Image 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.

An investigation found that the driver was headed west on Leesburg Pike in a 2000 Acura sedan and attempted to turn left onto Glen Carlyn Drive around 11 p.m. on March 10, according to the police.

“This caused the victim, who was riding a motorcycle at the time, to collide with Machado’s vehicle,” the FCPD said.

Alejandro Portillo, a 19-year-old from Arlington, was riding a 1996 Yamaha motorcycle east on Leesburg Pike in the left through-lane when he crashed into the sedan, police said in the initial news release.

Officers responded to the scene in Bailey’s Crossroads around 11:10 p.m. Portillo was taken to a hospital, where he died that evening.

Like in a 2022 crash on West Ox Road that killed a motorcyclist, the police investigation found that the driver’s actions in this case didn’t meet Virginia’s standards for a reckless driving or involuntary manslaughter charge, according to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

Failure to yield the right-of-way can constitute reckless driving under state law, but it only applies in instances where the driver “fails to bring his vehicle to a stop immediately before entering a highway from a side road when there is traffic approaching” within 500 feet of the entrance.

“Though this tragic incident resulted in the death of one of our community members, the charge brought against the defendant is the appropriate one and reflects the alleged facts of the case,” Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office spokesperson Laura Birnbaum said.

Court proceedings in the West Ox Road crash concluded on Feb. 27 with the driver being fined $50, an outcome that “disappointed” the mother of Andrew Dearing, the motorcyclist who was killed.

According to the Fairfax County General District Court, Virginia imposes uniform fines for traffic offenses that can’t be altered by a clerk or magistrate, though it doesn’t restrict the amount that a judge could charge if the case reaches a court hearing. The total for failing to yield on a left turn is $97, including court costs and processing fees.

The driver in the crash that killed Portillo is scheduled to appear in court for an adjudicatory hearing on July 3, according to court records.

Image via Google Maps

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.

Recalling that morning a couple of days later, Brubaker told FFXnow that she was “saddened by the outcome” and “shocked” by what she saw as a “lack of attention” paid to the case by the prosecutor.

“Overall, I was disappointed that there was not a trial so that a courtroom, a judge, myself, and others could hear the facts of this case,” Brubaker said. “I had assumed at a minimum, that he would be found guilty of the two driving infractions he was charged with, but for some reason, the prosecutor decided against it. The defendant did not offer any remorse or explanation to the court, nor was it asked for by the court.”

Brubaker’s son, Andrew Dearing, died on Oct. 25, 2022 after the driver of a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee crashed into him while he was riding his 2018 Yamaha MT07 motorcycle on West Ox Road in Fair Oaks, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

In an initial news release, police said a preliminary investigation indicated that the motorcyclist had “proceeded straight through” the Ox Hill Road intersection and struck the Jeep, which then hit a pedestrian signal and collided with a 2013 Lexus GS350 sedan.

However, almost a month later, the FCPD announced that its detectives had charged the Jeep driver on Nov. 18 with two traffic violations: failing to yield on a left turn and failing to obey a traffic signal.

“Detectives determined [the driver], 79, of Fairfax was driving in the northbound turn lane on West Ox Road waiting to turn left onto Ox Hill Road,” the FCPD said. “[He] did not yield to the operator of a 2018 Yamaha MT07 motorcycle traveling southbound on West Ox Road resulting in the crash.”

Dearing was thrown from the motorcycle, which got totaled, according to a police crash report. He died that evening in a hospital at 27 years old.

The charges, explained

Brubaker says she was surprised to not see more serious charges, but according to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, the crash didn’t involve the kind of negligent or reckless behavior needed to meet Virginia’s standards for involuntary manslaughter or reckless driving.

In Virginia, involuntary manslaughter applies to fatal crashes where someone was driving under the influence, and reckless driving involves behavior careless enough “to endanger the life, limb, or property of any person.” Examples include speeding, driving in the wrong lane, driving with faulty brakes or passing another vehicle when the driver’s view is obstructed by a hill or curve.

According to the police crash report, the driver in this case didn’t have the right-of-way, and both his and Dearing’s vision may have been obscured by stopped cars. But the crash didn’t involve any health issues, distractions or intoxication. Read More

(Updated at 4 p.m.) An 81-year-old man from Fairfax Station was driving in the wrong direction on Fairfax County Parkway when he fatally collided with a Tesla this morning (Thursday), police say.

Officers responded to the parkway at 12:06 a.m. after getting a call for a crash involving a 2002 Chevrolet Trailblazer and a 2022 Tesla sedan just north of the Ox Road (Route 123) interchange, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

“Preliminarily, detectives determined the driver of the Trailblazer, Sidney Brooks…was traveling northbound on Fairfax County Parkway in the southbound lanes when he struck the driver of a 2022 Tesla sedan head-on in the southbound lanes,” the FCPD said in a news release.

Brooks and the Tesla driver were both transported to a hospital, where Brooks died. The Tesla driver experienced injuries that were determined to be not life-threatening.

Neither of the vehicles had any occupants other than the drivers.

According to police, alcohol doesn’t appear to have been a factor in the crash, but detectives are still investigating whether speed may have contributed.

Brooks is the ninth person to be killed in a vehicle crash on Fairfax County roads this year, not including ones that involved pedestrians, the FCPD says. At this time in 2023, there had been three such fatalities.

This was the fourth fatal crash in the county this week. Three pedestrians died in separate crashes, two of them on I-495 near Telegraph Road, on Sunday (March 10).

Image via Google Maps

A driver involved in one of the two fatal pedestrian crashes that occurred on the Capital Beltway this past Sunday (March 10) was allegedly intoxicated and didn’t have a valid license, according to the Virginia State Police.

Carlos Nunez Morales, a 26-year-old Woodbridge resident, has been charged with driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter and driving with a revoked or suspended license after police say he hit and killed a pedestrian on I-495 near the Telegraph Road exit in the Rose Hill area.

According to the VSP, Morales was driving a 2003 Dodge Ram in the westbound lanes of I-495 around 3:38 a.m. when he veered off the left side of the interstate and hit Gregory Bruington, Jr., who was changing a tire on a 2017 Volkswagen Golf parked on the highway’s left shoulder.

Bruington, a 30-year-old man from Newport News, died at the scene, and a 24-year-old, female passenger in the Volkswagen “was seriously injured,” a police spokesperson said in an update this morning (Thursday).

“Nunez Morales suffered minor injuries,” state police said. “He was not wearing a seat belt.”

The crash occurred just minutes before a separate crash in the eastbound lanes of I-495 near the same exit that also killed a pedestrian.

Around 3:53 a.m., responding state troopers came across a woman identified as Vanessa Schwartz, a 35-year-old Alexandria resident, lying in the interstate.

The VSP later reported that Schwartz had stepped into traffic and was hit by the driver of a 2005 Honda Accord that was traveling east on I-495 in the right-center lane

“The Accord was then struck by a 2021 Acura RDX, and the Accord then struck the jersey wall. A 2023 Nissan Rogue then struck the RDX,” police said.

Schwartz died at the scene.

Both of Sunday’s crashes on I-495 remain under investigation.

Fairfax County police are also still seeking information about a third fatal pedestrian crash that took place shortly after midnight on Sunday in Mount Vernon. In that crash, the driver of a 2015 Hyundai Sonata that had been reported stolen allegedly hit James Johnson, 63, of Hybla Valley on Janna Lee Avenue and fled the scene.

A 19-year-old man from Arlington died Sunday night (March 10) after reportedly crashing into a sedan while riding his motorcycle in Bailey’s Crossroads.

Officers responded to the intersection of Leesburg Pike (Route 7) and Glen Carlyn Drive at 11:10 p.m. on Sunday for a crash involving a 1996 Yamaha motorcycle and a 2000 Acura sedan, the Fairfax County Police Department said yesterday (Monday) in a news release.

“Preliminarily, detectives determined the driver of the Acura was traveling westbound on Leesburg Pike attempting to make a left turn onto Glen Carlyn Drive when he was struck on the passenger side by the motorcyclist which was eastbound on Leesburg Pike in the left through-lane,” the FCPD said.

Alejandro Portillo, the motorcyclist, was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

According to police, the Acura driver remained at the scene of the crash and didn’t experience any injuries. The crash remains under investigation.

Portillo is the eighth person who wasn’t a pedestrian to be killed in a traffic crash on Fairfax County roads this year, according to the FCPD. At this time in 2023, there had been three such fatalities.

This is the county’s first fatal crash of 2024 involving a motorcyclist, but seven motorcyclists died in crashes last year, a fatality rate matched in 2022, according to traffic data from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

In the most recent crash, an Ashburn man was charged with reckless driving for allegedly speeding when he crashed into Zafeer Piracha, 27, of Lorton, who was riding a motorcycle on Route 28 in the Chantilly area.

Portillo is the second person to die in a crash in the Bailey’s Crossroads section of Leesburg Pike this year. Gladys Bilbao, a 93-year-old Falls Church resident, died last month from injuries she sustained as a passenger in a collision between two Toyota sedans at the South Jefferson Street intersection on Feb. 16.

The Route 7 corridor in Bailey’s Crossroads was identified as particularly dangerous for pedestrians in a 2022 report by immigrant advocacy organization CASA and nonprofit Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Image via Google Maps

(Updated at 12:50 p.m. on 3/12/2024) Fairfax County was the site of three different fatal pedestrian crashes yesterday (Sunday), two of them occurring just minutes apart in the same proximity on the Capital Beltway (I-495).

According to the Virginia State Police, troopers responded first at 3:39 a.m. to a crash on the westbound I-495 shoulder, east of the exit to Telegraph Road at the Alexandria border.

“At this stage of the investigation, it appears an individual was on the shoulder changing a tire on a vehicle when the individual was struck by a truck,” the VSP said.

The person changing their tire died at the scene, while the truck driver was taken to a hospital for treatment. Charges in the crash “are pending,” police said in an update just before 10 a.m. on Sunday.

Then, at 3:53 a.m., police came across a woman lying in the eastbound lanes of I-495 near the Telegraph Road exit. Calls to police indicated that the woman got hit by two vehicles, according to scanner traffic on OpenMHz.

“A 2005 Honda Accord, heading eastbound in the right center lane on I-495, was unable to avoid striking a female pedestrian who had stepped into traffic,” the VSP said in an update on Tuesday (March 12). “The Accord was then struck by a 2021 Acura RDX, and the Accord then struck the jersey wall. A 2023 Nissan Rogue then struck the RDX.”

The woman, Vanessa Schwartz, 35, of Alexandria, died at the scene of the crash, which remains under investigation. A spokesperson emphasized that the two crashes “are not related.”

Police seek driver in fatal hit-and-run

Separately, Fairfax County police detectives are investigating a fatal pedestrian crash in Mount Vernon that allegedly involved the driver of a stolen vehicle.

Around 12:17 a.m., officers spotted a black 2015 Hyundai Sonata on Buckman Road near Russell Road that had been reported stolen overnight on Saturday (March 9) from the 7900 block of Sausalito Place, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

“The driver of a stolen Sonata sped away at the sight of the police. Officers did not pursue,” the FCPD said.

An officer saw the sedan “traveling at a high rate of speed” north on Janna Lee Avenue about 15 minutes later.

“The driver sideswiped an occupied vehicle near Tamarind Street,” police said. “Officers followed the direction the driver was traveling and located the stolen vehicle crashed into a dumpster and unoccupied.”

A man later identified as James Johnson, 63, of Hybla Valley was found in the grass nearby after he had apparently been hit by a vehicle. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

According to the FCPD, its Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives believe the driver of the stolen Hyundai hit Johnson while he was walking on Janna Lee Avenue before crashing into the dumpster. The driver wasn’t located, and the police department doesn’t have a description “at this time.”

The crash remains under investigation.

There have now been five pedestrian deaths in Fairfax County this year, including two fatal crashes on Richmond Highway in February.

Image via Google Maps

Detectives have charged a 17-year-old boy with DUI-related manslaughter and maiming in a Nov. 20 crash that killed one teen and seriously injured four others in Fairfax County’s Idylwood area.

In a news release, Fairfax County police said the boy was driving under the influence in a 2003 Lincoln Aviator when he crested a hill on Shreve Road “at a high rate of speed” around 5 a.m. that morning.

The boy struck a tree near Pioneer Lane and the vehicle spun, ejecting the five teenage passengers, the release said. None were wearing seatbelts.

One of the teens died Nov. 27 from his injuries. The four other passengers were seriously injured and have since been released from the hospital.

On Thursday (Feb. 29), detectives obtained warrants charging the driver with DUI-related manslaughter, four counts of DUI maiming and refusal to take a breath test, the release said.

Last night, patrol officers arrested the driver at his Pimmit Hills home. He was held without bond at the Fairfax County jail. His name has not been released because he is a juvenile.

Image via Google Maps. This article was written by FFXnow’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission, though the headline has been changed. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.