Hybla Valley Homicide Suspect Arrested: Police

HYBLA VALLEY, VA — Fairfax County Police have arrested the suspect in the Aug. 7 fatal shooting in Hybla Valley.

Police had responded to the 7400 block of Vernon Square Drive that night for a neighbor's report of an argument and gunshot. Officers found the victim with an apparent upper body gunshot wound, and Fairfax County Fire and Rescue personnel pronounced him dead on the scene. The victim was identified as Raphael Pierce, 23, of Alexandria.

The suspect was identified as Terence Butler, 40, of Alexandria, who attended a small gathering and got into an argument with the victim. Police say Pierce fled in a vehicle. Arrest warrants were obtained that following Sunday. Since the shooting, detectives executed more than 30 search warrants, conducted interviews, and looked through extensive data to locate Butler.

Detectives from the Fugitive Track and Apprehension Unit arrested Butler in DC on Friday. Detectives and federal partners had received information about his whereabouts Friday morning.

"No matter how far someone tries to run or how long they try to hide, we will find them," said Maj. Ed O'Carroll, the bureau chief of Major Crimes, Cyber and Forensics. "I’d like to thank all of our detectives with our Major Crimes Bureau, our Fugitive Track and Apprehension Squad as well as our federal partners with the U.S. Marshals Task Force and officers of the Metropolitan Police Department who assisted in tracking down this killer."

Butler will be charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is being held at the Central Detention Facility in DC pending extradition to Fairfax County.