FAIRFAX, Va. — A man faces up to 40 years in prison after being convicted in the brutal murder of a Virginia man on Thursday.
Aaron Robertson, 31, was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder for killing Luis Barahona Reyes, 50, on June 10, 2023.
Investigators say Robertson and Reyes did not know each other when they got off a bus at the same stop on Draper Drive in Fairfax City at 11 p.m. on June 9, 2023. After a brief conversation, Robertson lured Reyes to a parking lot, where Robertson knocked Reyes unconscious. Robertson later returned early the next morning, where he then beat, stabbed, and eventually killed Reyes. Robertson then left and returned a third time to clean up and try to dispose of the body.
Evidence introduced at trial connected Robertson to the murder, including Reyes' blood on his shoes and Robertson's own DNA underneath Reyes' fingernails.
Surveillance footage of that night and the following morning, as well as witnesses from the nearby Wawa and 7-Eleven stores, also showed Robertson walking in and out several times to wash his hands.
Prosecutors argued Robertson attacked and killed Reyes because Reyes asked him for sex in their first conversation while getting off the bus.
“I’m personally dismayed this type of crime could happen in this day and age, especially in a community like Fairfax County that prides itself on being welcoming,” said CA Descano. “Mr. Barahona Reyes’ death is tragic, and the fact that he may have been killed for his sexuality only further adds to the injustice.”
Robertson will be sentenced on July 26 and faces up to 40 years for the second-degree murder charge.
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