An illegal alien in Fairfax County, Virginia with a history of arrests, mental illness and apparent ties to MS-13 was arrested and charged with second-degree murder Wednesday – just one day after the illegal sanctuary county chose to release him rather than honor a detainer request by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Tuesday, 23 year-old Marvin Morales-Ortez - an illegal alien from El Salvador being held in jail on charges brandishing a gun, assault and causing injury - was released after charges were dropped and the sheriff’s office, led by Stacey Kincaid, refused to honor ICE’s detainer request.
“If Fairfax County would have simply worked to uphold our nation’s laws, then this tragedy may have never happened,” an ICE spokesman said, commenting on the fatal shooting of a man Morales-Ortez lived with, 40-year-old Marvin Ernesto Morales.
"The sanctuary politicians of Fairfax have blood on their hands,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson said.
The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office released Morales-Ortez despite court records showing:
- Morales-Ortez had been charged with at least seven crimes in Fairfax County since 2020, including first-degree murder (charges were eventually dropped).
- In one case, in which he was found “guilty in abstentia” of petit larceny, Morales-Ortez never paid the fine levied.
- Morales-Ortez was allegedly a member of the MS-13 gang.
- He has a history of mental health issues.
The sheriff’s office says that ICE failed to obtain and provide a judicial warrant – but, “officials do not need a judicial warrant” in order to honor an ICE detainer, according to DHS.
As a sanctuary city, Fairfax County has a practice and history of refusing to honor detainers in high-profile cases where ICE has requested to take custody of illegal aliens. Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Office is headed by Fairfax County Commonwealth Attorney Steve Descano, who is backed by billionaire leftist activist George Soros. Sheriff Kincaid is tied to far-left Democrat Virginia Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger, who is considering promoting Kincaid to a top position with Virginia’s state police.
After Morales-Ortez was released from jail on Tuesday, a Community Services Board (CSB) clinician obtained an Emergency Custody Order (ECO) for Morales-Ortez, but Fairfax County police officers failed to take him into custody before the order expired.
The ECO, which expired eight hours after issuance, was sought and granted because it was feared that Morales-Ortez’s dubious mental state could make him a threat to harm himself or others.
A local NBC affiliate reports that Morales-Ortez is shown on video leaving the victim’s home after the shooting:
“New video from a doorbell camera shows Morales-Ortez leaving the home after the shooting and trying to get into a mail truck. A neighbor said Morales-Ortez couldn’t get into the vehicle. Fairfax County police said he ended up fleeing on a bike.
“Chopper4 footage shows officers going door to door in the community until officers and K9s eventually found Morales-Ortez hiding in a wooded area about a mile from home.”
Morales-Ortez was arraigned Thursday on a second-degree murder charge and is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing in March.
