For Immediate Release: June 6, 2023

On June 6, 2023, the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney obtained murder convictions against the defendant, Ryan Joseph Vega, a 16-year-old City resident. The defendant was a juvenile at the time of the offense but was tried as an adult in Circuit Court.

The defendant was convicted of two felonies, Second Degree Murder and Murder by Mob. The crimes occurred in the parking lot of the Bradlee Shopping Center on May 24, 2022. The matter was prosecuted by Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney David A. Lord and Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Meredith Burke. Alexandria Police Detectives Christine Escobar and Michael Whelan investigated the offense.

The sentencing hearing will be held on September 28, 2023. The maximum penalty for each offense is 40 years in the penitentiary. While the defendant was tried as an adult, the Court has the option of sentencing him entirely as a juvenile, entirely as an adult, or by blending/combining a juvenile and adult sentence.

On May 24, 2022, Alexandria Police responded to the Bradlee Shopping Center at 3600 King Street for the report of a large number of high school students having gathered. A large-scale fight ensued, during the course of which Luis Mejia Hernandez, an 18-year-old Alexandria resident, was stabbed in the chest. Mr. Mejia Hernandez quickly succumbed to his wound.

A large amount of surveillance video was recovered from nearby businesses as well as from cell phones from bystanders. The police identified a number of suspects who were involved in active fighting, including the defendant, Ryan Vega. The defendant could be seen in a still image from one video holding a knife.

Pursuant to a search warrant, Alexandria detectives recovered video of the fight from the defendant’s cell phone. The video had been sent to him through a chat function and captured him stabbing Mr. Mejia Hernandez. After being arrested by the police and advised of his Miranda rights, the defendant made a statement to law enforcement in which he admitted to the killing but stated it was done in self-defense. He also said the fight had begun when two groups of students known had decided they were going to engage in a fight.

The defendant is incarcerated at the Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Center pending the sentencing hearing.