The individual suspected of murder fled the U.S. last month after receiving a 48-hour pass from a mental health facility in Virginia. This person had previously been granted permission to leave the facility for unsupervised visits and was residing in a taxpayer-funded apartment during the holiday season.
Abdulloj Toshprozoda departed the U.S. on July 6, taking a weekend pass to board a one-way flight from Washington Dulles International Airport to Tajikistan, traveling through Istanbul. Court documents reveal that a Turkish Airlines ticket was booked in his name using an American Express card.
Even with a murder charge pending against him, Toshprozoda was permitted to leave the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute (NVMHI) for temporary stays in an Alexandria apartment as part of the Fairfax Permanent Supportive Housing Program, according to court filings.
House Democrats express outrage over inmate’s early release despite murder charges.
In 2019, Toshprozoda was involved in a fatal stabbing of Mohammad Hematyan at his home in Vienna, Virginia, where he was found by police stained with blood. Ultimately, he was acquitted of second-degree murder by reason of insanity and was committed to a psychiatric hospital in 2022. To establish a defendant’s legal insanity, evaluations by both a defense expert and an independent expert for the prosecution are required, as explained by Laura Birnbaum, chief of staff for the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney.
If experts for prosecutors also conclude that a defendant is legally insane, achieving a conviction becomes virtually impossible, Birnbaum noted. Just this June, a judge decreed that Toshprozoda could not be released from detention without further court orders.
However, Virginia law permits specific psychiatric patients, including those charged with violent crimes, to have temporary day or weekend passes. The Internal Forensic Privileges Committee of NVMHI allowed Toshprozoda to have unsupervised community visits and exit the facility independently for up to 48 hours at a time. Because of this ongoing permit, he was legally allowed to be out without supervision before his escape.
In May 2024, he received authorization for an escorted trip to the Tajikistan embassy in Washington, D.C., to obtain a passport.
The Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office sought a warrant for his arrest on August 5, one month after Toshprozoda left the country. They stated, “Clinicians determined that Mr. Abdulloj Toshprozoda was insane at the time of the murder of Mohammad Hematian. This legal conclusion means the Commonwealth cannot secure a conviction at trial.”
Prosecutors voiced their concerns about his release during a review hearing in June.
The office confirmed that a bench warrant was issued immediately upon discovering he had escaped custody, ensuring he would be apprehended and extradited back to Virginia if he re-entered the U.S.
