The mother of a Virginia woman who was allegedly stabbed to death by an illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record wants Fairfax County’s top prosecutor out of office for saying he won’t pursue criminal cases against migrants because it could result in their deportation.
Cheryl Minter, with the help of the Victim’s Rights Reform Council, submitted a federal civil rights complaint asking the Department of Justice to probe Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano over what the filing calls “preferential treatment for illegal immigrants over native-born citizens.”
The complaint notes that the suspect in daughter Stephanie Minter’s slaying — Sierra Leone national Abdul Jalloh — avoided time behind bars despite more than 30 arrests on charges such as rape and stabbing.
“What makes them any different than any other criminal out there?” Ms. Minter said in an interview with The Washington Times. “Why are the illegals getting away with it when nobody else can? Why is Descano getting away with doing what he’s doing?”
Police said Jalloh fatally stabbed Stephanie Minter, 41, at random in February near a bus shelter in the Alexandria portion of Fairfax County.
The Department of Homeland Security said Jalloh came to the U.S. illegally in 2012 and had an ICE detainer lodged against him in 2020. A federal judge issued a final order of removal to a country other than Sierra Leone.
Jalloh’s alleged connection to Stephanie Minter’s killing brought to light his record of arrests for violent acts and Mr. Descano’s stance on prosecuting migrants.
Mr. Descano, a Democrat whose campaigns have been supported by left-wing billionaire George Soros, had a section on his campaign website titled “Consideration of Immigration Consequences.”
“If two people commit the same crime, but only one’s punishment includes deportation, that’s a perversion of justice and not a reflection of the values of Fairfax County,” Mr. Descano’s website said.
The campaign website took down that section after it attracted media attention over Jalloh’s murder charges.
The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office said that the page was removed because it was incorrectly treated as official policy, while Mr. Descano himself addressed the federal complaint during a press event last week.
“I can’t speak to any individual lawsuit, but I can tell you that the idea that we favor one group over another is completely wrong,” the prosecutor said. “That has been fed by, in my opinion, purposeful misreporting, and people taking things out of context for political gain. I can tell you that my job and our office’s job is to keep us safe.”
But when Jalloh appeared in court last fall on unrelated charges, prosecutors passed on a chance to put the 32-year-old back in jail. Court documents from November’s hearing show that instead of forcing Jalloh to serve out the rest of his suspended prison sentence from a prior stabbing conviction, prosecutors and the defense agreed to re-suspend his sentence and drop his probation.
Jalloh received a seven-year sentence for stabbing an elderly man in 2023, but a judge suspended five years of his sentence.
The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office said Jalloh was eligible to spend only another six months in jail if his sentence had been reimposed because he was jailed for 100 days leading up to November’s hearing.
Fairfax County police officials at the time had warned that allowing Jalloh back on the streets could cost someone their life. Stephanie Minter was killed three months after he was released from custody.
Cheryl Minter said her daughter had been punished more for her own criminal record than Jalloh ever had.
Stephanie Minter struggled with alcoholism, her mother said. State court records show she was arrested dozens of times, largely for public intoxication and theft.
Between various jail stints and prison sentences, Stephanie spent at least six years locked up throughout her adult life, Ms. Minter said.
She couldn’t fathom how a man who police had described as a danger to the public had been imprisoned for less time. The mother laid the sole blame on Mr. Descano.
“He’s ignored law enforcement,” she said. “Isn’t that their job is to make sure people are safe? They’ve passed it on to somebody who should be able to do that, and he did nothing. That sounds like it’s not right to me, for somebody who’s working for the people.”
The DOJ hasn’t responded to Ms. Minter’s complaint, but Congress is looking to grill Mr. Descano about his adherence to Fairfax County’s “sanctuary” policies next month. Mr. Descano and Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid will go before a House Judiciary subcommittee on May 14 to testify about shielding illegal immigrants from federal deportation efforts.
Fairfax County does not assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in transferring arrested migrants into ICE custody. That has drawn scorn from the Trump administration, as three of the county’s five homicides have been linked to illegal immigrant suspects.
Ms. Minter said her family remains angry about Stephanie being killed because of what they attribute to Mr. Descano’s malpractice.
But Ms. Minter also wants her daughter to be remembered for her colorful personality and her faith, as well as for how she never stopped trying to overcome her substance abuse issues.
“The things I have found written since she’s been gone — just the prayers she had written, just asking for help. There’s been so many, and I’m still finding them,” Ms. Minter said through tears.
