Ex-Boyfriend Charged For Jholie Moussa's Murder

MOUNT VERNON, VA—Fairfax County Police have charged the ex-boyfriend of 16-year-old Jholie Moussa for her murder and are continuing to search for evidence. Nebiyu Ebrahim, 18, was served with a juvenile petition Thursday charging him with first-degree murder. He was charged for a separate assault on Moussa and is being held at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

Police say Ebrahim lived with his parents within walking distance of Woodlawn Park, where police found Moussa's body on Jan. 25. Detectives identified Ebrahim as a person of interest in her case, and investigations revealed he had assaulted her in the past.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the cause of Moussa's death to be asphyxia by smothering and blunt force trauma.

On Monday, detectives were searching for evidence in a pond at Pole Road and Pondside Terrace. No further details were immediately available.

"Every piece of technology and resource available to our department was deployed to solve this case," said Police Chief Ed Roessler Jr. in a statement. "Detectives, crime scene technicians, laboratory scientists and victim-service advocates have worked arduously in the pursuit of justice."

The Mount Vernon teen had been reported missing on Jan. 13. Her family had not heard from her since the previous evening, when she reportedly said she would be at a party in Norfolk. Her mother insisted her daughter would not run away from home.

Moussa's family has criticized authorities for not sending out an AMBER Alert. She was entered as a runaway juvenile in the National Crime Information Center database. That was later changed to an endangered missing person.

In a Friday morning news conference, police did not share details of evidence but said they will be used when the case goes to trial.

Image of Ebrahim via Fairfax County Police