A Manassas mother of three, LaToya Crabbe, has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge for the October 21, 2024, shooting death of her husband, Curtis Crabbe. This marks the second time she has been indicted, following the dismissal of an earlier indictment due to prosecutorial unpreparedness.
Late last month, Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Angela Horan ordered Crabbe's release from jail after dismissing a second-degree murder charge against her, citing repeated missed deadlines by the prosecution.
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A judge ordered the release of Latoya Crabbe from jail after dismissing a second-degree murder charge against her, citing repeated missed deadlines by the prosecution. Crabbe, a Manassas mother of three, had been accused of killing her estranged husband, Curtis Crabbe, in October 2024.
Prince William County Circuit Court Judge Angela Horanâs decision came after she denied a request from the Commonwealthâs Attorneyâs Office to continue the case. With no viable path forward, the office was forced to drop the charges.
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The Prince William County Commonwealthâs Attorneyâs Office has been ordered to pay a $22,250 sanction for violating Virginiaâs Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The FOIA law is intended to promote government transparency and public awareness of government activities.
Valeria Juarez, a citizen of Fairfax County, filed a lawsuit in 2023 after a series of FOIA requests either failed to include all requested documents or contained so many redactions that they were unreadable. Juarez contended that the Commonwealthâs Attorneyâs Office initially failed to provide 172 requested emails, and when they were eventually produced, they were so heavily redacted that they contained no meaningful information.
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Latoya Crabbe, the Manasas woman accused of shooting and killing her estranged husband, Curtis Crabbed, was released from jail on Friday, February 21, 2025. At the county jail, she had an emotional reunion with her mother, Marilyn Martin, who patiently waited for officials to release her from the lockup sheâd been in since being charged on October 21, 2024.Â
A short time later, at home, Crabbe waited anxiously for her three children, whom she had not seen in four months, to come home from school. "Iâm relieved to be back home, but Iâm still anxious about the pending trial," she said. "The most important thing for me is to hug and kiss my babies right now."
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Prince William County Assistant prosecutor D. Burke Walker told Circuit Court Judge Angela Horan that his office would file a motion on the first day of trial not to prosecute Latoya Crabbe on her 2nd-degree murder charge but instead will move to indict her on 1st-degree murder charge.
Crabbe is accused of murder in the death of her estranged husband, Curtis Crabbe. Curtis had made threats over text messages in the days leading to the shooting, police said. In evidence presented at a preliminary hearing in December, officers admitted they found an unsheathed and extended Italian Stiletto knife that Crabbeâs defense attorney, David Daughtery, argued showed Crabbe was in imminent fear for her life. Such knives were illegal in Virginia until a law changed in 2023. The trial is scheduled to begin on March 3, but Walker's admission questions the timeline.
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The Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney's Office posted an announcement: A 53-year-old man who raped a 15-year-old will serve 30 years in prison.
Prince William County Commonwealthâs Attorney Amy Ashworth announces the successful prosecution of Phillip Michael Brown, arising from the September 2023 rape of a fifteen-year-old resident of Prince William County. On September 23, 2024, a Prince William County Jury found Phillip Michael Brown guilty of one count of aggravated sexual battery and one count of rape through mental incapacity or physical helplessness. On February 13, 2025, Mr. Brown was sentenced by the Honorable Kimberly Irving, Judge of the Prince William County Circuit Court, to 70 years in prison with 40 years suspended, resulting in an active sentence of 30 years in prison to serve and an indefinite period of supervised probation. The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant Commonwealthâs Attorney Elena Ventura and Senior Assistant Commonwealthâs Attorney Meagan Anglin.Commonwealth of Virginia v. Phillip Michael BrownOn September 1, 2023, at approximately 1:00 p.m., the Prince William County Police Department began investigating the report of an intoxicated fifteen-year-old missing juvenile. At approximately 3:00 p, m., the juvenile was located in the bathroom at the train station in Manassas City, Virginia, in an incoherent state. Mr. Brown was located later that afternoon, through GPS tracking of the juvenile's cell phone, and was in possession of the cell phone. Mr. Brown initially told law enforcement he had located the juvenile on the fourth floor of the parking garage adjacent to the train station, clearly intoxicated, and asking for assistance. Further investigation by the Manassas City Police Department revealed that the juvenile had been sexually assaulted in the parking garage by Mr. Brown. When confronted with the video footage, Mr. Brown admitted to picking the fifteen-year-old up near Nokesville Road in Prince William County, Virginia, before driving her to the parking garage in downtown Manassas City, Virginia, but denied assaulting her. Additional DNA evidence presented at trial supported the juvenileâs report of sexual assault by Mr. Brown.
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(FXBG Advance) â A Fredericksburg resident has filed a petition asking the Circuit Court to compel the release of applications, notes, and interview questions related to the recent Ward 3 vacancy and to block Council from holding closed meetings to discuss matters related to filling the vacancy.
Maryland Man Convicted of Supplying Drugs to Fredericksburg Trafficker
Sean Shaka Myles Sr., 50, of Baltimore, was convicted for conspiring to distribute cocaine and fentanyl to a Fredericksburg trafficker. He faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison. (Full details)
Stafford Man Convicted for Assaulting Passenger During Flight
Everett Chad Nelson, 44, was found guilty of attacking a sleeping, deaf passenger on a flight to Dulles Airport, causing severe injuries. He faces up to 10 years in prison. (Full details)
Honduran National Sentenced for Illegal Reentry & Failing to Register as a Sex Offender
Eliseo Garcia Gordillo, 43, previously convicted of sexual battery in Prince William County, was sentenced to two years in prison for reentering the U.S. and failing to register as a sex offender. (Full details)
Dumfries Man Pleads Guilty to COVID-19 Relief Fraud
Kingsley Apenteng, 40, admitted to falsifying documents to obtain a $149,740 PPP loan, which was later forgiven. He faces up to 20 years in prison. (Full details)
A Manassas man who brought an Uzi to Manassas Mall got a lenient sentence after Commonwealth Attorney Amy Ashworth offered him a sweetheart deal to close out two separate cases related to the mall shooting and a separate case where jail officials alleged he participated in a jailhouse beating with five other men who cornered and beat three members of a rival gang.
Daevon Russell, 19, of 9306 Taney Road in Manassas, who at the time, was on pre-trial probation for a 2023 Manassas City shooting that left another teen paralyzed from the neck down, went to the Manassas Mall on July 9, 2024, armed with the Uzi and got into an altercation with another group of teens in the food court.
The altercation spilled outside into the mall parking lot when the shooting began. An innocent bystander and one of the combatants suffered gunshot wounds. The stipulations of his earlier pretrial release required him not to possess weapons, and Virginia law bars those under 21 from possessing handguns.
Originally charged with six felonies and six misdemeanors, Russell faced decades in prison. Ashworthâs agreement dismissed all of the felony charges and gave him a total of one year in jail and four years of Local Offenderâs Probation for the misdemeanor charges and allowed him to retain both voting and gun rights. Russell admitted to owning the gun but did not get charged with possessing it under the age of 21.
Ashworth told Potomac Local News that there may have been issues with the case. âThe prosecutor handling any case must always consider the strength of the evidence, the availability and willingness of witnesses to testify, the chances of succeeding at trial, the likely sentence if we are successful at trial, and the victimâs position regarding the outcome of the case as we evaluate how to proceed with a case. It is always our intention to seek justice and keep the community safe.â
Ashworth, when asked about Russell keeping his gun rights, which are normally removed from those convicted of felony offenses, said, âIf there are consequences regarding his gun rights, youâll have to look at the appropriate code sections.â Virginia code does not prevent those convicted of only misdemeanor charges from further possessing weapons.
Despite being sentenced to one year in jail and only being in custody for six months, Prince William Adult Detention Center officials confirm Russellâs confinement for all five cases ended on January 9, 2025, just one day after Circuit Court Judge Angela Horan and General District Court Judge Cheâ Rogers accepted his plea agreement. He is still being held without bond for the 2023 shooting where he is scheduled to appear at trial March 3, 2025 to answer to those charges.
Both men injured in the Mall shooting have recovered.
