Bazen Berhe stabbed and beat Hernan Leiva to death, authorities said. (Mug shot: Fairfax County Police Department); screenshot of the police response to the murder: WUSA)
It all started over an allegedly stolen lunch.
Bazen Berhe, 25, was sentenced for stabbing and beating his co-worker, Hernan Leiva, 58, to death, and at his hearing, he threatened more harm if he did not get the worst punishment available, said prosecutors in Fairfax County, Virginia.
“At the sentencing hearing, the defendant threatened to kill or hurt other people if he was not given the harshest possible sentence,” they wrote Tuesday.
The judge gave him 100 years in prison, with 30 suspended, so he has to serve 70 in practice.
CA Descano announced today that Bazen Berhe, 25, was sentenced to 100 years for the 2021 murder of Hernan Leiva, 58, in the parking lot of the Bailey’s Crossroads Target where they both worked. pic.twitter.com/1bqPJkZ8Zc
— Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Descano (@FairfaxCountyCA) January 30, 2024
The defendant and the victim worked at the same Target in the community of Bailey’s Crossroads.
“Berhe, of Alexandria, claimed he was upset with Leiva, who was a janitor at the Target, for taking Berhe’s lunch from the office fridge,” they wrote. “After this incident occurred on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, Berhe purchased a hammer and two knives while leaving his shift at Target, and he told detectives that he spent the following day, April 16, ‘training for the murder.””
Then, in the early morning of April 17, 2021, he ambushed Leiva in the parking lot.
Police at the time said they responded at about 3:30 a.m. to find the victim suffering apparent stab wounds and blunt force trauma to his upper body. Berhe turned himself in after returning to the parking lot, they said. Officers arrested him for second-degree murder.
“Mr. Leiva’s unnecessary and tragic death leaves behind a grieving family and community, one that will never be the same after such a senseless act of violence,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said in a statement on Tuesday. “In this case, because of the unique and self-proclaimed danger the defendant continues to pose to the community, today’s sentence was a necessary outcome for maintaining public safety.”
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