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A man was convicted of second-degree murder on Thursday in the killing of a Fairfax City man who authorities said was left in a trash receptacle hours after he had asked the defendant to have sex.

After deliberating for about five hours, a Fairfax Circuit Court jury found Aaron James Anthony Robertson, 31, guilty in the June 10, 2023, killing of 50-year-old Luis Barahona Reyes. Robertson, who was unhoused at the time of the crime, faces up to 40 years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for July 26.

“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 Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano in a statement. “Mr. Barahona Reyes’ death is tragic, and the fact that he may have been killed for his sexuality only further adds to the injustice.”

Authorities said Barahona Reyes and Robertson began a conversation at about 11:10 p.m. in front of a Wawa on Fairfax Boulevard. According to a portion of Robertson’s September confession to Fairfax City police played in court, Barahona Reyes had asked the defendant if he wanted to have sex.

“He was so affronted that someone might think that he were gay and wanted to engage with him,” Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kaitlin Morgan said in a closing argument, urging the jury to convict the defendant of first-degree murder.

In his confession, Robertson recounted that he initially said yes to the victim’s offer and led him to the back of a building across the street. It was there, prosecutors allege, that Robertson punched the victim three times, knocking out Barahona Reyes. When Barahona Reyes fell to the ground, prosecutors said Robertson could hear a bone crack. Before leaving, prosecutors said, the defendant poured beer on the victim’s body.

Sometime between 1 and 2 a.m., officials said Robertson returned, finding Barahona Reyes still at the scene. In his confession, Robertson said he went to check on the victim and recalled saying to him: “You can’t say stuff like that to people.” He said Barahona Reyes then slowly got up, taking out a pocket knife, and lunged at the defendant.

“I was just scared,” Robertson said in his confession. “I had nobody ever come at me with a knife.”

The defendant, in turn, said he hit Barahona Reyes and pulled the knife out of the victim’s hands. Robertson then said he strangled the victim, slammed Barahona Reyes’s head on the ground and kicked him. At one point, Robertson said he hit the victim with rocks before using the same pocket knife to stab Barahona Reyes five times in the neck and chest. The next day, Robertson said, he discarded the knife in a sewer drain grate in Maryland.

“I know what I did, but why did I do it?” Robertson said in his confession played for jurors. “I don’t have an answer to that confession.”

Michael Sprano, Robertson’s attorney, urged jurors to find Robertson guilty of manslaughter. Sprano, acknowledging that his client had killed Barahona Reyes, argued that the defendant’s fear of the knife “turned into an uncontrollable rage.” The attorney also said Robertson had been drinking all day and was not in a reasonable mental state when the victim’s knife was pointed at him.

“Mr. Barahona Reyes had every right to be the person he wanted to be,” Sprano said, adding, “But that is not the case before you today. … The questions of this case come down to Mr. Robertson’s state of mind.”

About an hour after the killing, prosecutors allege, Robertson came to the scene for a third time. He moved Barahona Reyes’s body to a nearby dumpster area, placing him atop a bare mattress and covering his body with cardboard and garbage. The next morning, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/06/16/reyes-slain-fairfax-city/" target=_blank>Barahona Reyes was found by construction workers</a> in the trash receptacle. Officials said a pool of blood remained at the scene, with Barahona Reyes’s dentures on the ground.

As officials described the injuries inflicted on the victim’s lifeless body, Robertson kept his head down. Barahona Reyes’s loved ones gathered in the courtroom benches, occasionally wiping tears and intently listening.

American University, MA journalism and public affairs; University of Richmond, BA in journalism and international studies

Olivia Diaz covers criminal justice in Fairfax County.

Olivia Diaz

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