A man from El Salvador wanted for deportation for living in the U.S. illegally was charged Friday with three counts of first-degree murder following two shooting incidents Thursday night in Manassas, Va.
Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro, who police had been searching for since 2002, was taken into police custody Thursday night after the vehicle he was driving was pulled over while police were investigating two shooting scenes on Hood Road and Brent Street.
The first shooting happened at about 7:15 p.m. Thursday on Hood Road. Police said Brenda Ashcraft, 56, died at the scene while William Ashbey Ashcraft, 37, died en route to a local hospital. Two other females, ages 15 and 34, were shot. The teen was treated and released. The other victim is listed in stable condition. All four are family members.
Police said the suspect has a relationship with all of the victims, but would not elaborate on what that relationship was.
Melissa King, the niece and cousin of the two people who died in the first shooting, said Friday morning that her aunt had been a victim of domestic violence from her boyfriend.
"He'd been causing trouble but she was too afraid to call police," King said outside the home of one of the shootings. "They were a good, good family, just full of love and support. This was not drug-related. This was not gang-related ... it was just domestic violence."
King said she has lived in the same neighborhood as her aunt her entire life.
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"I know it's a bad neighborhood with crime, but so many people came out last night to offer us support. It was really like one big family," she said. She called her aunt "one of the rocks in our family. She'd give you her last piece of bread, her last dollar."
The second shooting happened at about 8 p.m. about a quarter of a mile away on Brent Street. Police said Julio Cesar Ulloa, 48, was found dead at the scene. A 77-year-old woman was taken to a local hospital in stable condition suffering from knife wounds.
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