Fairfax County killer curses victims' families as judge sentences him to life

CRIME

Fairfax County killer curses victims' families as judge sentences him to life

Yohannes Nessibu fled to Ethiopia after killing Henok Yohannes and then executing witness Kedest Simeneh.

Author: Bruce Leshan
Published: 10:05 PM EDT June 16, 2023
Updated: 10:05 PM EDT June 16, 2023

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — On Friday, a Fairfax County judge imposed a life sentence on a screaming, cursing killer who had fled to Ethiopia in December of 2016 in a failed attempt to escape the long arm of the law.

A jury had earlier this year convicted Yohannes Nessibu of killing a 22-year-old Fairfax County man, and hours later, executing a 22-year-old woman who was friend to the victim and had witnessed the crime.

Moments after Judge Michael Devine sentenced Nessibu, 28, to life, he started screaming. "F- you!" he shouted at the judge. "F- you!" he yelled at the victim's family members, many of whom were already in tears.

"Go to hell!," an uncle of one victim yelled back, before Judge Michael Devine shouted, "Take him out of here!" to deputies who were already racing in to grab the killer and drag him out of the courtroom.

"He would curse the families of two people he murdered. If that's not evil, I don't know what is," said Prize Funk, an uncle who testified on the agonizing impact of losing his niece, Kedest Simeneh.

Victims' family members were overjoyed at the life sentence, but furious that the killer would think he'd get the last word. "When the judge said life, that was a relief, so happy tears coming down," said Sileshi Simeneh, Kidest's father. But when Nessibu cursed him, cursed the judge, and cursed the process, "It was unbelievable. The guy has nothing to hold together," Simineh said.

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