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BAILEY’S CROSSROADS, Va. (TCD) — A 25-year-old man will likely spend the rest of his life in prison for fatally stabbing and bludgeoning his co-worker in a Target parking lot over stolen lunch in 2021.
According to a Jan. 30 news release from Fairfax Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, a judge sentenced Bazen Berhe to 100 years in prison with 30 years suspended for the first-degree murder of 58-year-old Hernan Leiva.
Berhe pleaded guilty to the charge in October 2023.
On April 17, 2021, at approximately 3:30 a.m., Fairfax County Police responded to the 5100 block of Leesburg Pike, where they found Leiva suffering from apparent stab wounds and blunt force injuries to his upper body. Officials pronounced him dead at the scene.
According to Descano, on April 14, 2021, Berhe became angry with his co-worker, Leiva, who worked as a janitor at Target, because he allegedly stole his lunch from the office refrigerator. Berhe reportedly bought a hammer and two knives as he was leaving work the next day, and he began “training for the murder” on April 16.
Descano said Berhe went to the Target parking lot in the early hours of April 17 and waited for Leiva to arrive. Once he showed up, Berhe “stabbed and bludgeoned him to death before fleeing.”
Berhe reportedly returned to the parking lot soon after and turned himself into police. He was initially charged with second-degree murder.
Descano noted that at the sentencing hearing, Berhe “threatened to kill or hurt other people if he was not given the harshest possible sentence.”
In a statement, Descano said “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.”
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