Police say Friday’s death in Penn Daw was a domestic-related murder

A woman is under arrest for allegedly stabbing her brother to death Friday morning in the Penn Daw area.

Sarah Esmeralda Viera, 23, is accused of stabbing 32-year-old Charles Alvarez in what police say was a domestic-related murder. Viera was arrested and charged with murder after the incident. She is being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Police say that around 8:30 a.m. Friday morning they were called to a stabbing in the Kings Gardens Apartments complex on Furman Lane, which is just off of South Kings Highway (see map). Alvarez was found suffering from unspecified “trauma to his upper body,” police said.

Alvarez was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries, according to police.

Police said they were still investigating the incident to determine “the events leading up to the stabbing,” and asked anyone with information on the incident to contact them.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of the death.

The murder is the third of 2020 in Fairfax County, and the first in the Richmond Highway area.