Crime and Courts

Man Accused of Killing Target Coworker in Fairfax County

As detectives investigated, the suspect returned to a parking lot near the scene and turned himself into police, according to a news release

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A man was arrested and charged with murdering his coworker in a Fairfax County parking garage early Saturday morning after he turned himself in to police, authorities said.

Hernan Leiva, 58, worked at the Target at Bailey’s Crossroads and had arrived at work when he was allegedly attacked by a coworker, Fairfax County police said. 

Officers responded at about 3:30 a.m. to the 5100 block of Leesburg Pike after Leiva was found suffering from stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his upper body, according to a news release. Rescue personnel pronounced him dead at the scene.

The suspect, Bazen Berhe, 22, surrendered to police a short time later, police said. Because of the evidence found at the scene, officers believe they would have been able to make a quick arrest even if Berhe had not turned himself in.

“Preliminarily, detectives determined that Leiva and Berhe were involved in a previous dispute,” the news release reads. "As detectives investigated the circumstances that led to Leiva’s death... Berhe... returned to a parking lot near the scene and turned himself in to police."

Berhe was charged with second-degree murder.   

Two knives and a hammer were recovered at the scene, police said.

The medical examiner’s office will determine Leiva’s official cause of death.

Stay with News4 for more on this developing story.

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