On the morning of July 16, 2022, 48-year-old Adrian Dejesus Rivera Guzman, a landscaping contractor from El Salvador, was shot and killed while at work in Alexandria, Virginia. His 24-year-old stepson, Juan Carlos Anaya Hernandez, was also killed in the attack. The two men were working at the Assembly Alexandria apartment complex when the incident occurred. Police responded to a call of a residential burglary and shots fired at the complex around 7:28 a.m. One of the victims died at the scene, while the other was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead. Authorities later described the two men as 'innocent bystanders' who were tragically caught in the events that unfolded that morning.
The investigation into the double homicide led police to a suspect, Francis Deonte Rose, 27, who had no fixed address. Rose was apprehended on the day of the shootings and was initially charged with burglary and illegally entering a building. Prior to the deadly encounter, police had received reports of a man matching Rose's description breaking into apartments in the complex. In fact, Rose had a warrant for his arrest for a burglary that occurred at the same apartment complex three weeks earlier. Following the shootings, Rose was found by a K-9 officer hiding naked under a bed in one of the apartments.
In August 2022, Francis Deonte Rose was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of using a firearm in the commission of a felony in connection with the deaths of Rivera Guzman and Anaya Hernandez. During his trial in May 2024, Rose pleaded not guilty, claiming he acted in self-defense. His defense attorney argued that Rose had been attacked by the two men. However, the prosecution maintained that the killings were unprovoked. A jury ultimately found Rose guilty of two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and unlawful entry. In October 2024, a judge sentenced Rose to 58 years in prison. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victims' family upon his release. Before his sentencing, Rose apologized to the family, stating that he was not a bad person and did not intend to take their lives.
