A woman was killed, allegedly by her husband, in a case of domestic violence in a Fairfax County home, law enforcement sources tell News4.
Police were called to reports of a shooting at the 7900 block of Central Park Circle in the Mount Vernon area of Alexandria at 3:19 a.m. on Sunday, a Fairfax County Police spokesperson said. A man said he had accidentally shot his wife.
As police arrived and approached the home, they heard a gunshot. Inside a townhouse, officers found a man and a woman both suffering from gunshot wounds.
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The woman, Daphne Saunders-Johnson, was taken to the hospital where she later died. The man, whose name has not been provided, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
Police said they do not believe anyone else was inside the home at the time of the shooting.
Just last weekend, Vicky Robertson and Saunders-Johnson were at a cook out together. Now, Robertson mourns her friend of 40 years.
"[She was] my confidante, my sister. I'm past devastated," Robertson said. "This should not have happened."
Roberston said she and Saunders-Johnson were social workers in Fairfax County. Among their circle of friends, Saunders-Johnson was the one who helped them through tough times.
"She would just make things so much clearer, and help you process information, life - I just can't believe," Robertson said.
Central Park Circle is a quiet, tight-knit community with townhouses that look out to a shady park and playground. Even those new to the community, like Frances Walker, had come to know Saunders-Johnson.
"We just moved in, but everybody knows everybody," Walker said. "My heart is broken for my sister."
Police processed the crime scene well into the afternoon, and friends of the victim are left with the sobering reality of domestic violence, and how even close friends can not be aware of what's happening in their midst.
"If we had known, and I'm just saying myself and some other friends, had known, had an inkling [we] would have tried to intervene," Robertson said. "This has come out of the blue."
The investigation is ongoing. Police said this was an isolated incident and there is no threat to the community.
