Guatemalan Gotaway Illegal Immigrant Charged With Murder in Virginia Stabbing

A man with no trace in any U.S. immigration database allegedly stabbed an acquaintance to death inside a Bailey's Crossroads home Sunday night, touching off a helicopter-assisted manhunt, a federal detainer demand, and a confrontation with Virginia's governor over policies that have now twice failed to prevent a killing.

Anibal Armando Chavarria Muy, 38, was arrested March 30 and charged with second-degree murder in the death of an adult male found at the 6000 block of Bellview Drive at approximately 8:56 p.m. the night before. Responding officers found the victim inside the residence with multiple stab wounds to the upper body, administered life-saving measures, and held the scene until Fairfax County Fire and Rescue transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Detectives believe the two men knew each other; what triggered the violence remains under investigation.

Chavarria Muy was not at the scene when police arrived. A Fairfax County Police Department helicopter tracked him to a vehicle in the 1100 block of James Swart Circle, where he was taken into custody without incident. He is held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, and no trial date has been announced.

To convict on second-degree murder in Virginia, prosecutors must prove an unlawful killing with malice but without the premeditation that would elevate the charge to first-degree murder.

Chavarria Muy is a Guatemalan national classified as a "gotaway," meaning he crossed into the United States undetected and carries no prior record in federal immigration databases. ICE lodged a detainer with the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office on or around March 31. DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis issued a statement the same day, directing it at Gov. Abigail Spanberger: "ICE is calling on Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger and Virginia's sanctuary politicians to not release this murderer back into our communities. This incident comes just one month after an innocent woman was murdered by another criminal illegal alien at a bus stop in Spanberger's state. Open-border policies yet again have caused another preventable tragedy."

What that detainer accomplishes is the open question. Sheriff Stacey Kincaid has a documented history of refusing federal immigration holds even for violent offenders, and her office had not responded to media inquiries as of April 1. Spanberger, who took office January 17 and signed an executive order restricting state and local cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, has said violent criminals here illegally should face deportation, but only after DHS secures a signed judicial warrant, not an administrative detainer.

This is Fairfax County's second fatal stabbing attributed to an illegal immigrant in 35 days. On February 23, Stephanie Minter, 41, of Fredericksburg was stabbed to death at a Hybla Valley bus stop. Abdul Jalloh, 32, a Sierra Leone national who entered the country illegally in 2012, was charged with second-degree murder in her death. Jalloh had more than 30 prior arrests, including for rape, malicious wounding, and assault, and an ICE detainer had been lodged against him since 2020. In late 2025, Salvadoran national Marvin Fernando Morales-Ortez allegedly murdered a man in Reston one day after Fairfax County jail declined to honor an active detainer on him.

Sen. Tim Kaine warned that deporting Jalloh prematurely could allow him to "escape accountability" in U.S. courts. Fairfax County Board Chairman Jeff McKay has also been drawn into the debate as scrutiny over the county's detainer pattern intensifies.

The next inflection point: whether Sheriff Kincaid honors the hold on Chavarria Muy before federal agents can move. Given the county's track record, that outcome is not guaranteed.