Reston murder suspect was released a day earlier after Fairfax dropped charges

A man now charged with second-degree murder in a Reston killing was released from Fairfax County custody the day before, after the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office dropped charges against him, according to a House Judiciary Committee staff report released Oct. 20.

The report identifies the man as Marvin Morales-Ortez, an alleged MS-13 member from El Salvador. It says the sheriff's office released him on Dec. 16, 2025, after prosecutors "decided not to move forward with prosecuting him on charges of malicious assault and pointing/brandishing a gun stemming from an incident on September 12."

Once those charges were dropped, the report says, Sheriff Stacey Kincaid did not honor an ICE detainer and released him. It says Morales-Ortez allegedly killed a man in Reston the next day.

Earlier case. The report says Descano's office had previously dropped a murder charge against Morales-Ortez. Citing news coverage, it says prosecutors argued in court in 2021 that he confessed he was present at a killing, ambushed the victim on a path and struck the victim three times with a machete.

Sheriff's letter. In a March 11, 2026 letter to the committee, Kincaid attributed his release to the dropped prosecution, according to the report. She wrote: "The system must work as a whole. ... In this instance, the unscheduled dismissal of criminal charges led to the release of an individual who had been discharged from violent felonies. As Sheriff of Fairfax County, I have no say in the prosecution of any inmate."

The report also quotes Kincaid as having said earlier, "It's shameful the way things have not been prosecuted."

The report was prepared by the committee's Republican majority staff and relies in part on nonpublic records the committee says are on file with it. Those records have not been released. All News Virginia has requested comment from the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office and will update this story if it responds.

Source: "Fairfax County, Virginia: The Dangerous Consequences of Sanctuary Policies," interim staff report of the House Judiciary Committee and its Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, released Oct. 20, 2026. Read the report (PDF).

Fairfax County is a county in Northern Virginia. Its county seat is Fairfax, an independent city.