Woman arrested in 2005 death of daughter
A Loudoun County woman was arrested this week on a murder charge in 2005 the death of her 20-month-old daughter, authorities said.
Vanessa Patricio-Cruz, 30, of Sterling, Va., is charged in the Aug. 13, 2005, death of 20-month-old Jocelin Gutierrez, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. The child’s family took her to the fire-rescue station in South Riding that day. Jocelin was then taken to Fair Oaks Hospital and died that evening.
Loudoun County detectives recently followed up on the incident and confirmed Gutierrez’s cause of death to be blunt-force trauma, the sheriff’s office said.
Patricio-Cruz was being held Tuesday at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center without bond, authorities said.
Ex-school worker indicted in abuse of juveniles
A former Manassas city school employee was indicted in connection with sexually abusing juvenile students, Manassas police said.
A Prince William County grand jury handed down a 63-count indictment against Steffon Christian.
The 10 male victims in the indictment were all abused as juveniles. The majority of the incidents in the indictment occurred from 1980 to 1999, though charges also stem from abusing one of the juvenile victims as an adult in 2011, Capt. Steve Bamford of the Manassas police said.
Christian was also charged with four counts of forcible sodomy against a juvenile in November 2011, police said.
He was hired as a kindergarten aide in 1981 and worked for Manassas schools until 1999.
Bamford said police think there are still additional victims out there.
— Naomi Jagoda
