FAIRFAX COUNTY, Virginia — This murder is on Steve Descano.
There can be no doubt that Stephanie Minter is dead because of the indefensible actions of the Fairfax County “progressive prosecutor.”
Abdul Jalloh, an immigrant from Sierra Leone in the United States illegally since age 9, was arrested on charges of at least 40 crimes over the years, including stabbings. Descano’s office dropped the serious charges almost every time. Police begged the prosecutor to lock him up, warning that he would do worse. Descano didn’t listen, and Jalloh stabbed Minter to death at a bus stop last month.
Whenever an illegal immigrant kills someone in the U.S., there’s a familiar and unproductive back-and-forth: Republicans will say the victim is a victim of our open borders policies; some liberal or libertarian will respond that this is cherry-picking, and argue that immigrants — legal or not — are actually less likely to commit crimes than are native-born Americans.
This case is different.
Jalloh was free to kill Minter after years of criminal violence, likely because Jalloh was an illegal immigrant. Had he been born in the U.S. or a naturalized citizen, Jalloh would probably have been behind bars on Feb. 23.
If you have trouble believing this, you don’t know Descano.
Descano is a George Soros-funded “progressive prosecutor” for Fairfax County, Virginia’s most populous county. He has a record of not prosecuting violent felons, including murderers. But Descano’s general tolerance of criminals went even further for Jalloh.
Descano also has an explicit policy of going lighter on immigrants — legal and illegal — than on citizens.
“Steve’s office will take immigration consequences into account when making charging and plea decisions,” Descano’s website states. “Although prosecutors typically refer to immigration consequences as ‘collateral consequences,’ avoiding the unnecessary destruction of families and communities will be a top priority for Steve as Commonwealth’s Attorney. Wherever possible, Steve will make charging and plea decisions that limit or avoid immigration consequences.”
The result is obvious and perverse: Descano drops all the charges he possibly can when an immigrant commits a crime, even if he would prosecute a citizen for the same crime.
When Descano came to office in 2020, Jalloh had already been charged with three assaults and a rape. Fairfax police kept arresting him over the past six years. The charges Descano dropped in that period include trespassing in 2022, malicious wounding in 2023, stealing in 2023, petit larceny in 2024, trespassing in 2024, disorderly conduct in 2024, and malicious wounding in 2024. Descano did get guilty pleas on one charge of malicious wounding and one charge of drug possession.
Why?
Descano’s office claims they tried their best to prosecute him, but the public record suggests otherwise. We know that because he was here illegally, Jalloh might suffer “immigration consequences” if he were repeatedly convicted of violent felonies. We can’t have immigration consequences for serial stabber illegal immigrants, now can we?
Fairfax County police brass were disturbed that they kept arresting Jalloh, often with a knife in hand, and Descano kept releasing him.
In May, police nabbed Jalloh for stabbing a man in the leg. An officer emailed Descano deputy Jenna Sands and her colleagues. “The suspect has a history of stabbing community members and was on probation during the most recent assault. For those reasons and the reasons outlined in the document, we ask that you argue he continues to be held at the [Adult Detention Center].” (Emphasis added.)
Jalloh was released. Six months later, Jeffrey Mauro, commander of the Mount Vernon district in southern Fairfax County, met with Sands last November to beg her to lock up Jalloh.
Local reporter Nick Minock obtained and published the subsequent email through the Freedom of Information Act.
“I wanted to bring Mr. Jalloh’s release to your attention, because Mr. Jalloh is one of the repeat (and violent) offenders we discussed when we met,” Mauro wrote.
“I 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? Unfortunately, based on [the Mount Vernon district’s] numerous dealings with him, it is not a question of if, but rather when he will maliciously wound (or worse) again. My role of keeping the public safe, prompts me to follow up on his status.”
Three months after that email, Jalloh murdered Minter.
Keeping Jalloh — whose first arrests were on charges of domestic violence and had been accused of rape — on the streets was part of Descano’s campaign of “avoiding the unnecessary destruction of families and communities.”
Descano should try to explain that to Minter’s son, her mother, her grandmother, her three brothers, and her nieces and nephews.
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Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) won her election last year claiming to be a pragmatist, not an ideologue. As governor, she is the de facto head of the state party. It would carry serious weight if she did the right thing and told Descano to resign.
The people of Fairfax County cannot expect justice as long as Descano holds his job.