‘Completely unaware’: Fairfax County police chief raises alarm about lack of warning for unescorted murderers

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Fairfax County law enforcement officials are raising concerns over a state law that allows individuals accused of murder and found not guilty by reason of insanity to go unescorted into the community without notice to local police. 

What they're saying:

Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis revealed that officers are not informed when these individuals are granted unescorted visits. 

"I am completely unaware of any process that exists that involves a notification to the Fairfax County Police Department," Chief Davis said. "I think the whole scenario runs counter to the intuition that we all have when someone is detained or sent to a hospital for evaluation, in lieu of prosecution and in lieu of incarceration, I think it's reasonable to assume, when those folks are sent to those hospitals and medical facilities, that that's where they stay."

Retired Fairfax County Police Homicide Detective Steve Shillingford noted there was only a single insanity plea attempted in his 11-year career. There have been at least a dozen not guilty by reason of insanity pleas since 2019 in Fairfax County. 

Shillingford said that although most murder victims know their killers, there is still the rare instance when someone acts randomly. According to Shillingford, it could be time to take a look at changing state law that allows a mental health hospital to override a judge's order denying release. 

"So what I initially did was start looking at the timeline, and I knew we had a timeline from 2019 to when he got out, and he fled the country," Shillingford said. "And what initially sparked my interest was seeing in 2024 that the Commonwealth Attorney's office and some of the documents I read were actively helping him get a passport. And I found that, initially, I was like, there's no way. No, no way they were helping him to get a passport." 

Dig deeper:

The scrutiny follows new details about Dr. Azure Baron, a state hospital doctor who remains actively employed by the county. Dr. Baron signed letters approving unescorted community visits for at least two individuals accused of murder who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. This includes Abdulloi Toshpulodzoda, who subsequently fled the country.

READ MORE | Accused murderer boards flight out of U.S. on weekend pass from Virginia mental health facility

According to reports from Loudoun Now, Dr. Baron approved community visits for a third accused killer in 2024.

The Department of Behavioral Health confirmed that even when a judge explicitly denies a defendant conditional release, as occurred in Toshpulodzoda's case, the department is not legally prevented from granting unescorted community privileges.

Despite allowing these individuals into the public unescorted, the Department of Behavioral Health considers them to technically remain "in custody" of the department.

Fairfax CountyVirginiaNews