Virginia

2nd Suspect Arrested in Death of Man Shot, Stabbed Outside Manassas Restaurant

A second person has been arrested in connection with a homicide outside a Manassas restaurant last week.

Security camera video shows the moments just before two young men are believed to have attacked and killed Wilfredo Guardado-Huezo. The 25-year-old victim, a Manassas resident, had just left a nearby restaurant when he was both shot and stabbed.

Police said the second suspect to be arrested is a 16-year-old boy. He is in custody and is charged with first-degree murder. Because he is a juvenile, his name cannot be released.

Just a day after the shooting, police arrested Denis Alexander Sanchez, 20. He was in the restaurant just before the victim left, and it appears he alerted the two attackers who were waiting in the parking lot, police said.

Police have circulated a flyer as they try to identify more suspects.

Wilfredo Guardado IMG_7164
Family Photo
Wilfredo Guardado

Guardado-Huezo was slain early on the morning of April 17.

A man in the parking lot of a McDonald's in the 9000 block of Centreville Road in Manassas called 911 after hearing shots fired about 1:10 a.m. that morning.

"I heard two shots at first and then right after that three more shots," he said.

The witness said it took him a few minutes to find the victim, who was face down on the asphalt outside a diner next to the McDonald's. The victim, identified as Guardado-Huezo, suffered gunshot and knife wounds.

"They tried to slice him pretty bad," the witness said. "He was cut deep."

The witness tried to get information from Guardado-Huezo, but the victim couldn't speak.

"I was like, 'Who did this to you? What happened? What's going on?' and all he could do was moan," the man said.

Surveillance video from the scene shows a white SUV parking behind the diner before 1 a.m. The driver of the SUV walked away, while two others stayed with the vehicle, smoking. When Guardado-Huezo rounded the corner of the building, the two men who were inside the SUV followed him.

Police identified Sanchez as the driver of the SUV.

Denis Alexander Sanchez
Manassas City Police
Denis Alexander Sanchez

In a nearby mobile home park, a man heard the shots and saw two men running down the street "like they stole something."

"One of the guys had a gun in his hand," he said. "The other guy had something that looked like a gun in his pocket."

He said they jumped a fence into another mobile home park.

Police searched with a K-9 but didn’t find them.

The owner of Don Julio's said Guardado-Huezo was inside his restaurant Sunday night but wasn't involved in any incidents inside. Surveillance video shows Guardado-Huezo and Sanchez sitting in the bar just feet away from one another. When Guardado-Huezo left the bar, Sanchez was seen on the video going to the bathroom, presumably to signal the two others waiting by the SUV.

Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey shows the security video in the murder of a man in a Manassas parking lot.

The Northern Virginia Gang Task Force is assisting the investigation, as of last week, police hadn't confirmed the slaying was related to gang activity.

"It's still too early to speculate whether it's gang-related at this time, but we're investigating all possible leads and motive," said Chuck Sharp of Manassas Police last week.

Guardado was not involved in gang activity and spent most of his time working or with family, friends said.

"It surprises me someone could hurt another person like that when he was so good, such a good person," a friend said. "He was just having fun with his friends."

A GoFundMe page was created to raise funds to send Guardado's body back to El Salvador.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call police at 703-330-0330. A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest in this case. 

Manassas Homicide Poster 041717
Manassas Police
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