Virginia family calls for more accountability after repeat offender kills woman at bus stop
VA family calls for more accountability after learning man accused in deadly stabbing was a repeat offender
Community leaders are demanding accountability tonight after a deadly attack at a Fairfax County bus stop. The suspect — an undocumented immigrant with a criminal past — is now at the center of a growing debate. FOX 5’s Shirin Rajaee joins us live in Alexandria with more on today's press conference.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - Community leaders are demanding accountability after a deadly attack at a Fairfax County bus stop.
The suspect — an undocumented immigrant with a criminal past — is now at the center of a growing debate.
The backstory:
Fairfax County police say the brutal Feb. 23 attack at the bus stop along Richmond Highway appears to be at random.
The alleged suspect, 32-year-old Abdul Jalloh — an undocumented immigrant — is now charged with second-degree murder and is being held in Fairfax County.
Authorities say Jalloh had been in the U.S. illegally for years and had a lengthy rap sheet with more than 30 prior charges, including violent offenses like stabbings. Records show he was taken into ice custody back in 2018 but was released after a judge ruled he could not be deported.
A heartbroken mother:
The death of 41-year-old Stephanie Minter is a tragic — and many say preventable one.
Holding her daughter's picture, Cheryl Minter fought back tears as she said her daughter was a woman of faith, a beam of light and a friend to many. She spoke through her grief on Tuesday, making an emotional plea for change.
"I miss her so much. I have had her for 41 years, and I don’t know what I’m going to do without her," mom Cheryl Minter said. "Hopefully we can figure out ways to bring about change so these vicious criminals aren’t put back on the streets again and again."
Now, community activists and Virginia's former attorney general are demanding accountability and change.
What they're saying:
"Stephanie Minter did not have to die," former Virginia attorney general Jason Miyares said. "This is not an isolated tragedy: Stephanie is just the most visible and recent name in a documented pattern of preventable harm to Virginians — a pattern with a common cause real examples."
"The entire country is watching what’s going on here because it’s not just local, it’s the clearest example of what happens when soft on crime and open border policies take hold," victim’s rights advocate Jennifer Harrison said.
"Since the system refuses to hold them accountable, victims will. We’re going after every policy we’re going after every official who enables this including the court systems that incentivize these dangerous decisions and the nonprofits that promote them," Harrison went on to say.
As this case heads through the courts in Fairfax County, Minter’s family says this is no longer just about their loss — it’s about accountability and making sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.