An illegal immigrant accused of fatally stabbing a woman last month in Fairfax County had been arrested for so many violent crimes that county police warned prosecutors that his most recent release from jail could lead to deadly consequences, emails show.
Maj. Jeffrey Mauro, commander of Fairfax County’s Mount Vernon Police District, asked prosecutors why Abdul Jalloh was allowed to walk free after a court hearing in November, according to emails obtained by the nonprofit Virginians for Safe Communities.
“| wanted to get your background on why he is out so soon and ask if his prior suspended sentence (of I believe 5 years) was pursued by your office?” Maj. Mauro wrote to Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office prosecutor Jenna Sands on Nov. 15.
“Unfortunately, based on [Mount Vernon] Station’s numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again,” Maj. Mauro wrote. “My role of keeping the public safe, prompts me to follow up on his status.”
Jalloh was arrested Feb. 24 and charged in the fatal stabbing of Stephanie Minter. The 41-year-old mother was killed while waiting at a bus shelter in the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said after his arrest that it had pushed to keep Jalloh, 32, behind bars last fall, but a judge ordered him to be released and ended his probation.
That ruling prevented Jalloh, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone, from serving the rest of his sentence for a 2023 conviction for stabbing an elderly man. Jalloh received a seven-year sentence, but the judge suspended five years of his term.
Prosecutors said they had struggled to secure convictions for some of his other violent arrests — such as rape and at least three other stabbings — because many of his victims were homeless and refused to cooperate with investigations.
The emails included county police’s criminal profile of Jalloh that said he is homeless and has an “extensive violent criminal history.”
“His pattern of behavior shows escalating violence towards the community and community members,” the profile reads. “He has been involved in multiple malicious woundings where he has stabbed multiple people. At the time of his last arrest, he had a knife on his person.”
Overall, Fairfax County police said Jalloh has had “100 involvements” with authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security said it sought to take custody of Jalloh on an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer in 2020, but Fairfax County, which does not assist in federal immigration as a “sanctuary” jurisdiction, did not honor it.
Federal officials skewered Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger this week for ending Virginia State Police’s cooperation with ICE in light of Jalloh’s alleged killing.
“This is yet another American death at the hands of someone who shouldn’t be here that could have been prevented,” the DHS posted Monday on X.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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