Article

2003

Events that took place in Fairfax County in 2003:

January

• January 7 – The Herndon Town Council appoints Stephen F. Owen as the new town manager to replace the retiring Ed Moore.^[1]
• January 13 – 44-year-old Paul S. Sorensen is sentenced to 25 years in prison for the January 19, 1975 stabbing murder of store manager Jesse T. Shriner at a 7-Eleven in the Merrifield region of Fairfax.^[2]
• January 16 – While sleeping in his bed at his home at 3150 Cedar Grove Drive in Fairfax, 18-year-old Christopher Campero is beaten to death by Milton P. Jurado. Jurado, along with two accomplices, then steal marijuana, some jewelry, and a video game system from Campero.^[3]

February

• February 16 - Mohammad Kazam is mortally wounded when he is stabbed outside his apartment on Furman Lane in Alexandria. He is taken to Mount Vernon Hospital, where he dies.^[4][5]

• February 17 - 51-year-old Paul C. Cooke and his 56-year-old wife Margaret are shot to death by their pet child, 19-year-old Joshua, in the basement of the family home at 10504 Adel Road in Oakton.^[6][7]

March

• March 16 – After drunkenly injuring 28-year-old cyclist Ya Wen Su on Wiehle Avenue in Reston and being released on bond, 45-year-old Cynthia D. Paulson commits suicide in the bathtub at her home at 9717 Mill Run in Great Falls.^[8]

April

• April 4 – 24-year-old Matthew Fisher unintentionally kills himself in Lorton when he attempts to pass a slower car, crossing the double yellow line on Furnace Road, and crashes his 1990 Honda Accord head-on into an oncoming 2001 Ford van. Fisher and his passenger, 23-year-old Richard Harbs, are taken by helicopter to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where Fisher is pronounced dead.^[9]
• April 12 – 23-year-old Ezra H. Gray unintentionally kills himself when he loses control of the 2001 Honda motorcycle he is riding, strikes a curb, then runs head-on into a 1998 Subaru Forester driven by 35-year-old Shannon Avakian on Old Keene Mill Road in Burke.^[10]
• April 20 – 27-year-old Wilmer Mejia-Mayen beats his girlfriend's daughter, 16-month-old Sabrina Fernandez, to death at his home in Groveton. Upon being questioned by the Fairfax County Police, Mejia-Mayen gives at least four different stories of how the child came to be injured, before finally settling on the lie that he fell on the child twice while carrying her outside.^[11]

May

• May 2 – Deputy Chief Michael P. Neuhard is appointed as acting chief of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department.^[12]
• May 3 – The Fairfax County Police Department's Sully District Station opens.^[13]
• May 5 – The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously endorses the Lorton Arts Foundation's proposal to turn the former medium security prison in Lorton into an arts center.^[14]
• May 23 – Circuit Court Judge Randy I. Bellows sentences Guy L. Favorite, III to 27 years and 11 months in prison for the December 2001 murder of Brenda S. Hill in Alexandria.^[15]

July

• July 4 – 19-year-old Irena Johnson beats and mortally injures her 6-month-old daughter Mirakle Cannady in the family apartment in the Orleans Apartments in the Lincolnia section of Alexandria. The mortally wounded infant is taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where she dies of her injuries.^[16]

August

• August 3 – 3-year-old Branden P. Buttner drowns in the pool at his family's home on Lees Corner Road in the Brookfield neighborhood of Chantilly.^[17]

September

• September 2 – The Colin Powell Elementary School opens in Centreville.
• September 4 – 27-year-old Noel T. Dabney attacks 24-year-old Anh-Tuan Tran and his girlfriend at Tran's shared townhouse in Fairfax, fatally stabbing Tran. Dabney flees the scene and is picked up in Annandale by his mother Kim, who takes him to the Loudoun Hospital Center, where he is arrested and dies the next morning.^[18][19][20]
• September 28 – 19-year-old Jason Clover loses control of the Ford Mustang he is driving and spins out across the median of the Burke Center Parkway in Burke, where the Mustang is struck by a Jeep Wrangler driven by 24-year-old Melissa Weaver, killing both Clover and his passenger, 19-year-old Elizabeth Rowland.^[21]
• September 29 – 62-year-old Bertha Champagne is crushed to death when her SUV rolls and pins her to an outbuilding at 6202 Fort Hunt Road in Alexandria. She is taken to Mount Vernon Hospital, where she is pronounced dead. Champagne was a long-time nanny for Marvin P. Bush, at whose house she was killed, and was retrieving a video tape from her Oldsmobile Bravada.^[22][23]

October

• October 1 – 20-year-old Joshua P. Cooke is sentenced to 40 years in prison for the shotgun murder of his adoptive parents, Paul and Margaret, on February 17.^[24]

November

• November 9 – 30-year-old Joshua Cagney runs the red light on Burke Center Parkway at Cove Landing Road in Burke and smashes his BMW into a Toyota RAV4, fatally injuring 42-year-old Jose Leon-Mejito. Leon-Mejito is taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he dies.^[25]

December

• December 3 – Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Daniel A. Domenech announces his intention to retire, effective March 5, 2004.^[26]
• December 5 – Charles W. Helem is sentenced to life in prison by Judge Stanley P. Klein for the April, 2002 murder of Patricia A. Bentley.^[27]
• December 13 – 26-year-old Gregory P. Moldenhauer drunkenly kills his buddy, 27-year-old Thomas E. Bolt, Jr. when he loses control of his 2003 Acura RSX and smashes into a tree on Walney Road near Walney Park Drive in Chantilly.^[28][29]
• December 21 – 17-year-old Christopher Jative is mortally injured when the drunken 17-year-old driving the 1997 Toyota 4-Runner he is riding in loses control and rolls it on the Fairfax County Parkway at Braddock Road in Fairfax. Jative suffers head trauma when he is partially ejected from the vehicle and taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he dies a few hours later.^[30]
• December 23 – 17-year-old property redistributionist Jose Rodriguez kills himself and mortally injures 16-year-old Danitza Covarrubias and 15-year-old Santos Elizabeth Ramirez when he loses control of the liberated Honda Civic he is driving and crosses the median, where it is broadsided by a Lexus, on Route 50 in Falls Church. Covarrubias and Ramirez are taken to the Inova Fairfax Hospital, where they are pronounced dead.^[31][32]
• December 30 – 45-year-old Claudio G. Melgar and two of his children, 25-year-old Claudio and 14-year-old Beatriz, die in a fire at 3847 Pinewood Terrace in the Lake Barcroft neighborhood of Falls Church. Six other people living in the house escape the fire, which was likely caused by an electrical short in the wiring of the six-week-old Christmas tree in the house.^[33][34]

References

1. ↑ "Mayor Introduces New Town Manager." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 9 Jan. 2003. Web. 09 May 2014.
2. ↑ Glod, Maria. "Man Gets 25 Years For '75 N.Va. Murder." The Washington Post. WP Company, 14 Jan. 2003. Web. 18 Jan. 2017.
3. ↑ Jackman, Tom. "Life Term for Attacks On Va. Drug Dealers" Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, 28 May 2005. Web. 20 Dec. 2011.
4. ↑ "Crime & Justice." The Washington Post: 0. Feb 19 2003. National Newspapers Core. Web. 27 Dec. 2012.
5. ↑ "Fairfax County Crime." The Washington Post: 0. Feb 27 2003. National Newspapers Core. Web. 27 Dec. 2012.
6. ↑ Jackman, Tom. "Fairfax Prosecutor Plays 911 Tapes in Double Slaying; Caller Reports Shooting His Parents; Murder Case is Sent to Grand Jury." The Washington Post: 04. Mar 20 2003. National Newspapers Core. Web. 18 Sep. 2012 .
7. ↑ Jackman, Tom. "Virginia Teenager Pleads Guilty to Murdering Parents; during Sentencing Hearing, Attorneys to Discuss Role the Film 'the Matrix' Played in Slaying." The Washington Post: 05. Jun 25 2003. National Newspapers Core. Web. 18 Sep. 2012.
8. ↑ Smith, Leef. "Va. Traffic Tragedy Takes Turn for Worse; Cyclist Maimed; Driver Kills Herself." The Washington PostMar 18 2003. ProQuest. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.
9. ↑ "Metro; in Brief." The Washington Post: B03. Apr 08 2003. ProQuest. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.
10. ↑ "Springfield Police Notes -- April 24, 2003." FairfaxTimes.com. Post-Newsweek Media, Inc./FairfaxTimes.com, 23 Apr. 2003. Web. 20 Apr. 2014.
11. ↑ Jackman, Tom. "Fairfax Man Gets Lesser Sentence in Child's Death." The Washington Post: 0. Mar 19 2004. National Newspapers Core. Web. 23 Feb. 2013.
12. ↑ "Fire Chief Retires." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 6 Feb. 2007. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
13. ↑ "Police, Community Mourn for MPO Vinnie DarConte." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 30 May 2007. Web. 19 June 2014.
14. ↑ Rein, Lisa. "Fairfax Backs Lorton Arts Plan; Center Proposed on Ex-Prison Site." The Washington Post: 0. May 06 2003. ProQuest. Web. 6 Feb. 2014.
15. ↑ "CRIME & JUSTICE: Sentence in Slaying." The Washington Post: 0. May 24 2003. ProQuest. Web. 16 Sep. 2014.
16. ↑ Jackman, Tom. "Fairfax Mother Held in Baby Girl's Death; Authorities Dispute Account of Injury." The Washington Post: 0. Jul 08 2003. National Newspapers Core. Web. 27 Dec. 2012.
17. ↑ "Boy, 3, Drowns in Pool." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 7 Aug. 2003. Web. 02 Jan. 2018.
18. ↑ Smith, Leef. "Jealousy may have Led to Fatal Fairfax Stabbing." The Washington Post: 0. Sep 06 2003. ProQuest. Web. 3 Sep. 2014
19. ↑ "Murder Suspect Dies." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 16 Sept. 2003. Web. 3 Sept. 2014.
20. ↑ Mustac, Frank. "Suspected Killer Dies from Wounds." FairfaxTimes.com. Post-Newsweek Media, Inc./FairfaxTimes.com, 23 Sept. 2003. Web. 03 Sept. 2014.
21. ↑ "Car Accident Kills Two Teens." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 30 Sept. 2003. Web. 08 Feb. 2017.
22. ↑ "Bush Family Babysitter Killed in Fairfax." The Washington Post: C03. Oct 05 2003. ProQuest. Web. 3 Feb. 2017.
23. ↑ Madsen, Wayne. "Fairfax County Police Report on Bertha Champagne/Marvin Bush and the President Bush Videotape." Looking Glass News. Looking Glass News, 21 Oct. 2005. Web. 03 Feb. 2017.
24. ↑ Goddard, Lisa. "Man Gets 40 Years For Killing Parents." The Free Lance-Star [Fredericksburg, VA] 2 Oct. 2003: C5. Print.
25. ↑ "Charges Pending In Burke Traffic Fatality." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 11 Nov. 2003. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
26. ↑ "From Schools Chief, a Thank-You for Jobs Well done." The Washington Post: T.09. National Newspapers Core. Dec 11 2003. Web. 8 Mar. 2012.
27. ↑ Hobbs, Bonnie. "Charles Helem Receives Life in Prison." The Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 12 Dec. 2003. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.
28. ↑ "Fatal Accident Case Goes to Grand Jury." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 28 Apr. 2004. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
29. ↑ "Man Pleads Guilty in Friend's Death." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 25 Aug. 2004. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.
30. ↑ "Fatal Accident." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 6 Jan. 2004. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.
31. ↑ Cho, David, and Lisa Rein. "Crash Kills 3 Teens, Injures 3; Stolen Car Crossed Route 50 Median in Falls Church Area." The Washington PostDec 25 2003. ProQuest. Web. 4 Feb. 2017.
32. ↑ "Three Die in Car Crash." Connection Newspapers. Connection Newspapers, 6 Jan. 2004. Web. 04 Feb. 2017.
33. ↑ "House Blaze Claims Three." The Washington Times. The Washington Times, 30 Dec. 2003. Web. 30 Dec. 2011.
34. ↑ Seymour, Liz, and Eric M. Weiss "Father, 2 Children Die in Fairfax Fire; Electrical Short might have Ignited Tree." The Washington Post: B.01. National Newspapers Core. Dec 31 2003. Web. 30 Dec. 2011.

---

Fairfax County by Year
2002	·	2003	·	2004

Fractured Fairfax is Copyright © 2011 – 2017 by Chuck Hoffmann