(The Center Square) – A Virginia homicide suspect remains held without bond in Fairfax County as federal immigration officials and state leaders debate how immigration detainers should be handled in a county that has faced prior scrutiny over similar cases.
Abdul Jalloh, 32, was charged Wednesday of last week with second-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of 41-year-old Stephanie Minter at a Hybla Valley bus stop, according to Fairfax County Police. Detectives identified Jalloh through surveillance footage and interviews.
He is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed it lodged an immigration detainer against Jalloh the same day as the arrest. The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office told The Center Square it has received what it described as “an informal request” from ICE in the case.
An immigration detainer asks a local jail to notify federal authorities before releasing an individual and to hold the person briefly so ICE can assume custody.
In a Saturday release, the Department of Homeland Security said Jalloh is illegally in the country and has more than 30 prior arrests. The agency also said ICE previously lodged a detainer in 2020 and that he was granted a final order of removal.
“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,” Homeland Security Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in the release.
In response, a spokeswoman for Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a first-term Democrat who took office Jan. 17, said violent criminals in the United States illegally “should be deported by immigration enforcement,” but added that Homeland Security should obtain a signed judicial warrant.
“As a former federal law enforcement officer who conducted joint search and arrest warrants alongside state and local officers, Governor Spanberger firmly believes that violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should be deported by immigration enforcement,” the statement said. “DHS should request a signed judicial warrant to ensure this violent criminal is deported.”
In an emailed response to The Center Square, the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office said ICE has been notified of Jalloh’s location at the Adult Detention Center and would be able to act on its detainer if and when he is ordered released. In Virginia, sheriffs are independently elected and are not under the governor’s authority.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano’s office was the subject of a preliminary investigative report issued in 2025 after then-Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked then-Attorney General Jason Miyares to review what the administration described as a “pattern of failure” to prioritize protecting victims and law-abiding citizens.
The report examined charging and plea practices, including in cases involving noncitizen defendants.
Descano’s office disputed aspects of the report at the time. In this case, Chief of Staff Laura Birnbaum told The Center Square prosecutors secured Jalloh’s 2023 malicious wounding conviction and have sought to hold him accountable in subsequent proceedings.
Birnbaum said that in other prior malicious wounding cases, prosecutors were unable to move forward because victim participation is required and did not occur in some instances. She said some of those cases were nolle pross’d, a legal term in Latin meaning the charges were dropped but could be refiled if circumstances change.
She added that immigration detainers and physical custody decisions are “the purview of the Sheriff’s Office.”
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office states in a July 25, 2024, policy statement that it will not detain an individual based solely on an ICE detainer and requires a judicial warrant authorizing custody.
The statement cites a Jan. 5, 2015, advisory opinion from the Virginia attorney general concluding that an ICE detainer is a request and does not create a legal obligation to hold an inmate beyond a scheduled release date.
