Prince William

WOODBRIDGE, Va. – The Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said a 38-year-old cold case involving the abduction and rape of a local gas station clerk has finally been solved—thanks to cutting-edge DNA technology and years of relentless police work.

On August 21, a jury convicted Russell Marubbio, 54, of Florida, for the brutal 1987 assault that took place at a Chevron station on Jefferson Davis Highway in Woodbridge. Prosecutors say this marks the first time in U.S. legal history that rare “somatic mutations” in identical twins’ DNA were used to distinguish and convict one twin.


Prince William

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — A Prince William County jury has convicted Lisa Gaye Myers, 60, of voluntary manslaughter in the 2021 shooting death of her ex-boyfriend and tenant, Travis Kelly Deardorff. The verdict reduces her potential sentence to a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Myers was initially indicted of first-degree murder for the November 27, 2021, shooting inside her home on Bradford Lane, near Independent Hill. Police said Myers called 911 after shooting Deardorff in the head during an argument. He later died at a hospital.


Prince William

MANASSAS, Va. – Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office just told Potomac Local News they’ve secured a conviction in a deadly 2024 shooting on Stream Walk Lane, near Route 234 and Interstate 66, near Manassas. Zahir Abdul-Rahman Mujahid, 39, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Horace Roy Johnson III and has been sentenced to 40 years in prison—with more than 19 years suspended.

The shooting happened the night of November 23, 2024, near Balls Ford Road. Police found Johnson dead at the scene, along with shell casings and a pair of red glasses known to belong to Mujahid. Investigators say Mujahid shot Johnson multiple times after a fight broke out.


Prince William

The independent criminal investigation into the April 26 shooting at Westminster at Lake Ridge has concluded, with no charges filed against the Prince William County Police officers involved, according to a June 27, 2025, statement from the department. The Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), a multi-agency group of Northern Virginia law enforcement investigators, led the probe and presented its findings to Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth. After evaluating the evidence, Ashworth determined that no criminal charges would be pursued.

The case now enters a new phase: an internal administrative review by the police department’s Office of Professional Standards. Following that, the department’s Use of Deadly Force Review Board will decide whether the officers’ actions were justified and in line with departmental policy.


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A judge ordered the release of Latoya Crabbe from jail after dismissing a second-degree murder charge against her, citing repeated missed deadlines by the prosecution.

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The Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office has been ordered to pay a $22,250 sanction for violating Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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Manassas

Prince William County Assistant prosecutor D. Burke Walker told Circuit Court Judge Angela Horan that his office would file a motion on the first day of trial not to prosecute Latoya Crabbe on her 2nd-degree murder charge but instead will move to indict her on 1st-degree murder charge.

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A Manassas man who brought a Uzi to Manassas Mall got a lenient sentence after Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth offered him a sweetheart deal to close out two separate cases related to the mall shooting that left an innocent bystander and one of the combatants injured and another case where, while in custody where charging documents allege he participated in a jailhouse beating with five other men who cornered and beat three members of a rival gang.

Daevon Russell, 19, of 9306 Taney Road in Manassas, who was free on a cash-free bond for a 2023 Manassas City shooting that left another teen paralyzed from the neck down, was on pre-trial probation when he went to the Manassas Mall on July 9, 2024, armed with the Uzi and got into an altercation with another group of teens in the food court. The altercation spilled outside into the parking lot when the shooting began.  The stipulations of his pretrial release required him not to possess weapons, and Virginia law bars those under 21 from possessing handguns.

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