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A Virginia mother whose daughter was stabbed to death at a bus stop is fighting to oust the county's top prosecutor after learning the accused killer had been arrested more than 30 times before the attack.
"Stephanie should be alive today," Cheryl Minter wrote in a petition calling for Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano to be removed. "I had to do what no parent should ever have to. I had to bury my daughter."
Stephanie Minter, 41, was found with multiple stab wounds inside a bus stop shelter in Hybla Valley on Feb. 23, Fairfax County police said. Abdul Jalloh, 32, is charged with second-degree murder. He has not been convicted in her death.
"She was an amazingly strong woman, amazingly strong, and happy, and brought brightness and joy to so many people," Cheryl Minter told Fox News Digital.
The Department of Homeland Security says Jalloh, a Sierra Leone national who entered the U.S. illegally in 2012, had been arrested more than 30 times. His previous charges included rape, malicious wounding, assault and theft, DHS said.
"I was shocked. I mean, literally in shock," Cheryl Minter said when asked about his record. "And then this man who's killed her, just is let off like it's nothing. Like it's nothing."
In her petition, Cheryl Minter blamed Descano's decisions for what she called a preventable death. "Thirty times the system had a chance to stop him. Thirty times," she wrote. "I think about that every single day."
Cheryl questioned why Jalloh was released after an arrest she recalled from the winter before Stephanie's death. The details of that case and who made the release decision have not been independently confirmed.
"When you let these people back out on the streets, they're not gonna stop. Why would they stop?" she said.
Cheryl Minter also pointed to Descano's 2020 plea bargaining policy. It told prosecutors to "consider immigration consequences where possible" and weigh how the charges could affect a defendant's immigration status, WTOP reported. The outlet reported in May that the webpage detailing the policy was no longer publicly available on Descano's office website. Cheryl Minter argues that prosecutors should put public safety first.
That policy is under federal scrutiny. The Justice Department announced in May that it was investigating whether Descano's office gave defendants who are in the country illegally preferential treatment over U.S. citizens in charging decisions and plea deals. The department said it had reached no conclusions. The investigation does not establish how Jalloh's earlier cases were handled.
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Descano defended the policy after receiving notice of the investigation. "My policies are fair, legal, and reflect the values of my community," he wrote in a post on X.
Asked what she wants from her petition, Cheryl Minter said her priority is changing those practices in Fairfax County and beyond. She also wants Descano out of office.
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"I think first and foremost is the change," she said. "Second would be, I would love to see Descano out."
Jennifer Harrison, executive director of the Victims' Rights Reform Council, helped Cheryl Minter start the Change.org petition. Cheryl Minter said she knows an online petition cannot itself remove Descano, but hopes it will drive scrutiny of his office.
Congress is also pressing Descano for answers. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed him on Sept. 16 as part of an investigation into whether prosecutors give preferential treatment to criminal suspects because of their immigration status.
Jordan set a Sept. 25 deadline after accusing Descano's office of failing to fully comply with earlier requests.
In a previous statement to Fox News Digital, Descano's office called the subpoena a "needless escalation" and accused the committee of waging a "partisan siege" against Fairfax County. It said the office had turned over more than 1,100 pages of documents, that Descano had voluntarily testified, and that it would continue to respond to legitimate inquiries while working to keep the county safe.
The office has separately said it is prosecuting Jalloh for Stephanie's murder, with a trial scheduled for January 2027, and cannot comment further on the pending case.
Fairfax County police said Jalloh was arrested after an employee at a local business recognized him and called authorities the day after Stephanie Minter was killed. He was held without bond.
ICE lodged a detainer on Feb. 25, after Jalloh was in custody, asking to be notified before his release, according to DHS. The agency said it had also lodged a detainer against him in 2020 and that an immigration judge later ordered him removed to a country other than Sierra Leone.
Cheryl Minter said employees of Descano's office working on her daughter's murder case have been "wonderful with me." She said her criticism is aimed at the decisions she believes left a repeat offender free.
"I want people never to stop talking about it," she said. "I just don't want the talk to stop, and I'll do whatever to keep it going."
"Stephanie cannot speak for herself anymore. So I am," she wrote in the petition.
Fox News Digital reached out to Descano's office for comment on Cheryl Minter's allegations and petition.
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
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