In a tragic incident at a Virginia bus stop, a woman was fatally stabbed by a man with an extensive criminal background, including arrests for rape and assault, authorities report.
Stephanie Minter, 41, was allegedly killed by Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old from Sierra Leone, at a bus stop along Richmond Highway in Fairfax County. This incident occurred last Monday, as confirmed by the Fairfax County Police and the Department of Homeland Security.
Minter, who resided in Fredericksburg, was discovered inside the bus stop shelter with multiple stab wounds to her upper body. Authorities pronounced her dead at the scene.
The police identified Jalloh as the suspect after reviewing surveillance footage and conducting interviews. The footage reportedly showed Jalloh as the last person seen with Minter, disembarking from a bus alongside her.
Jalloh was taken into custody on Tuesday after someone recognized him entering a local business. He now faces charges of second-degree murder and petit larceny for a separate incident that occurred earlier the same day, according to police reports.
Jalloh had entered the United States illegally from Sierra Leone in 2012. In 2020, a detainer was placed on him by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and a judge ordered his removal to a country other than Sierra Leone, according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the DHS policy to remove immigrants to “third countries” that are not their own without giving them notice or an opportunity to appeal the decision is unlawful, per CBS News.
The accused killer has been arrested more than 30 times for a laundry list of offenses, including rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing, larceny, firing a weapon, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and pick-pocketing, federal authorities said.
Minter was described in her obituary as a “happy, jolly individual, filled with love and adoration for her loved ones,” and a “beam of light in dark places.”
“Stephanie will be sorely and dearly missed, with the world missing out on that beam of light we came to know so well,” the obituary said.
“Though she has taken new wings, the beauty she brought into this world remains forever in our hearts.”
Minter is survived by her son, mother, three brothers, grandmother, and numerous other nieces, nephews, and friends.
A motive for the fatal stabbing is not yet clear. It’s also unclear how or if Jalloh and Minter knew one another.
Jalloh remains held on no bond, with ICE lodging a detainer requesting that Virginia not release the crazed stabbing suspect.
“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,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement.
“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,” she added.
