RESTON, Va. (TCD) — Police arrested a 23-year-old family au pair this week in connection with a double homicide following a months-long investigation.
According to a news release from the Fairfax County Police Department, on Feb. 24, at approximately 8 a.m., a family au pair called 911 and reported that her “friend was hurt.” Police said a man then got on the phone and claimed he shot an individual who entered the home and stabbed his wife.
Officers responded to the residence in the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way and found 37-year-old Christine Banfield in an upstairs bedroom suffering from stab wounds to her upper body. Banfield was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
According to police, officers also found 39-year-old Joseph Ryan suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to his upper body, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police called it an “appalling scene.”
According to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis, there was a 4-year-old girl in the home at the time. She was unharmed.
Davis also said investigators do not believe it was a home invasion and that all four adults in the home knew each other.
In an update posted Oct. 19, police said they determined that the au pair, Juliana Peres, shot Ryan. She has been charged with second-degree murder and was booked into the Adult Detention Center without bond.
Police said the investigation is ongoing, and they’re looking into what led up to the fatal stabbing of Banfield.
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