Michael Alcantara

Michael Alcantara was an 18-year-old male from Manassas, Virginia, who worked as a sous chef and had a girlfriend of four years. According to his mother, Michael sold marijuana to help support his family and would carry a gun for protection during these transactions, as he had been robbed and beaten at gunpoint before. He and his girlfriend were inseparable, and his death came just two weeks before her high school graduation.

On the morning of May 15, 2024, Michael arranged to sell marijuana to another 18-year-old, Hassan Kanu of Centreville. Around 9:30 a.m., Michael pulled his vehicle into the parking lot of the Centre Lee Business Park in the 14600 block of U.S. 29 in Centreville. Kanu, who had been waiting at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts, walked to the car and got into the passenger seat. After about ten minutes, an altercation began. Both men, who were armed, exited the vehicle and exchanged gunfire in the busy parking lot. Michael was struck by multiple gunshots to his upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene. Kanu also sustained serious, life-threatening gunshot wounds.

Fairfax County police officers responded to reports of the shooting at 9:35 a.m. They found Michael deceased and rendered aid to Kanu, who was transported to a local hospital. Investigators recovered two firearms and an unspecified quantity of drugs at the scene, concluding that the shooting was not a random act but the result of a drug deal. Prosecutors later stated that after being shot, Kanu fled the area, disposed of his firearm in a storm drain, and then returned to the scene, where he initially claimed to be an innocent bystander who had been shot. He later confessed to his role in the shootout.

While still in the hospital, Hassan Kanu was arrested and charged with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. On December 16, 2024, a grand jury indicted him on these charges as well as robbery resulting in death.

Kanu’s trial was held in Fairfax County Circuit Court in March 2026. During the trial, a judge dismissed the robbery charge. On March 18, 2026, a jury found Kanu not guilty of the firearm charge but convicted him of the lesser felony of voluntary manslaughter in Michael Alcantara's death.

On September 3, 2026, Hassan Kanu was sentenced to 10 years in prison with four years suspended. He will serve six years of active incarceration, which will be followed by five years of supervised probation. This was the status of the case as of September 2026.