News

BREAKING: 16-year-old arrested and charged with murder after fatal stabbing at Bradlee Shopping Center

By James Cullum

Updated at 3:30 p.m. — A 16-year-old Alexandria City High School student has been arrested in connection to last week’s fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Luis Mejia Hernandez, Alexandria Police tweeted.

The juvenile, who was not named, was arrested more than a week after the May 24 incident, and has been charged with murder. He was arrested sometime Wednesday morning (June 1) and is being held at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center.

The full statement is below:

The Alexandria Police Department has made an arrest in connection to a stabbing incident, that occurred on May 24, 2022.

A 16-year-old juvenile male, a City of Alexandria resident, was arrested and charged with murder. The juvenile is currently being held in the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center.

The decedent Luis Hernandez, 18, was a City of Alexandria resident.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Hernandez was stabbed during a brawl between 30-to-50 students on Tuesday afternoon (May 24). Police have not disclosed what prompted the fight.

Friends of the victim say that police did not do enough to prevent Hernandez’s death, and police are not conducting an investigation to their response of the incident.

Alexandria City Public Schools went to asynchronous learning after the incident, and will continue with hybrid learning for the remainder of the week.

After the police released information on the incident, Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. sent out the following message:

Dear ACPS Staff and Families,

We want to share with you an update provided today by the Alexandria Police Department (APD) about the loss of Alexandria City High School (ACHS) student Luis Mejía Hernández. We have been in close contact with the APD and we appreciate your patience and understanding in communicating during an active police investigation, which we understand remains ongoing. Please see the June 1, 2022 APD press release regarding this case.

We want to again assure you that new security measures have been implemented and remain in place at ACHS and we have shared multiple communications with ACHS students and families, including the latest information from Executive Principal Peter Balas on logistics for this week for the Class of 2022 as well as students in grades 9-11.

Just a reminder that the schedule this week has changed with a modified return for ACHS students so we can focus on social, emotional and academic learning to help fulfill critical in-person graduation requirements, provide students with the social-emotional supports needed, and afford students with an opportunity for socialization with their peers. Also, the modified return permits students who prefer classroom time with teachers in person to complete their asynchronous assignments at ACHS.

On behalf of the whole Titan community, I would like to again express our condolences and support for the family of Luis Mejía Hernández. Our team will continue to support our students, staff and families.

Sincerely,

Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr.

Superintendent

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.