Man accused in Fairfax bus stop killing entered US illegally, DHS says

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - The man accused of stabbing a woman to death at a bus stop in Fairfax County is in the U.S. illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security. 

What we know:

Abdul Jalloh, 32, is accused of murdering Stephanie Minter, 41, at a bus stop on Richmond Highway near Arlington Drive last month. 

Fairfax County police found Minter with several stab wounds to her upper body.

Surveillance video and interviews helped detectives identify the suspect. They say he and Minter were last seen getting off the bus together.

Police later arrested Jalloh at a liquor store on Richmond Highway after an employee called 911. At the time, officers arrested him for allegedly shoplifting.

Detectives say they determined Jalloh is also the suspect who killed Minter and he’s charged with second-degree murder.

DHS announced on Monday, March 2 that Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national, entered the U.S. illegally in 2012. 

Dig deeper:

DHS says Jalloh is a "career criminal" with more than 30 arrests, including charges of rape, assault, drug possession, identity theft and more. 

In 2020, ICE lodged a detainer against Jalloh and he was ordered to be removed to any country other than Sierra Leone. 

FOX 5 looked into Jalloh’s criminal history, and online court records show that he's been arrested more than a dozen times in northern Virginia, including on charges of petty larceny and malicious wounding. 

In most of those cases, prosecutors chose to drop charges.

The backstory:

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order on her first day in office to end state police and corrections agreements with ICE. 

"We are calling on Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Virginia's sanctuary politicians to commit to not releasing this murderer and violent career criminal from their jail without notifying ICE," said Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis. "This illegal alien’s murder of an innocent, beautiful American woman came less than 24 hours before Governor Spanberger’s demonization of ICE law enforcement. This heinous criminal is a perfect example of why we need cooperation from sanctuary jurisdictions and the importance of third country removals for the safety of the American people."