A mother was stabbed to death at a Virginia bus stop by an illegal immigrant with dozens of prior arrests, including for rape and assault, according to authorities.
Stephanie Minter, 41, was allegedly fatally stabbed by Abdul Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national, at a bus stop on Richmond Highway in Fairfax County last Monday, according to Fairfax County Police and the Department of Homeland Security.
Minter, of Fredericksburg, was found in the bus stop shelter with multiple stab wounds to her upper body. She was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police identified Jalloh, 32, as the suspect in her killing after surveillance footage and interviews revealed he was the last person seen with Minter and had exited a bus with her, cops said.
He was arrested on Tuesday after a person recognized him entering a business and charged with second-degree murder as well as petit larceny for an alleged crime that happened earlier in the day, according to police.
Jalloh entered the US illegally from Sierra Leone in 2012 and had an ICE detainer lodged against him in 2020 — with a judge granting him a final order of removal to a country other than Sierra Leone, DHS said in a statement.
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.
