The Mayor of Falls Church made another request for an update this week from Fairfax County on the Steve Cornejo shooting investigation. The request was directed to Fairfax Chairman Gerry Connolly, who had previously requested a status from Commonwealth Attorney Bob Horan in May 2007. Chairman Connolly received no response from his earlier request to the Commonwealth Attorney's Office. The Commonwealth Attorney has not responded to previous requests from the Falls Church City Mayor, the Falls Church City Attorney, Fairfax Delegate Dave Albo, the Fairfax Chief of Police, Chairman Connolly, or from numerous requests from citizens interested in what, if any, action is being taken by the Commonwealth Attorney's Office in the Steve Cornejo killing. The Mayor's latest request was made in response to a letter written to her last week by Steve Cornejo's family pleading for assistance in getting additional information.
The lack of response from the Commonwealth Attorney in the Steve Cornejo shooting has been the subject of posts on personal and political blogs and web sites throughout NOVA.
Steve Cornejo, who was a popular Falls Church City resident who co-captained the City high school soccer team to a state championship in 2003, was unarmed when he was shot in the back at a party in Fairfax County in 2005. The shooter has never been arrested in the case and the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney made no recommendation for indictment after a brief investigation of the shooting in 2005. Numerous questions remain unanswered about the circumstances of the killing. Commonwealth Attorney Bob Horan promised to reopen the investigation in 2007 after a civil jury returned a wrongful death verdict of nearly $2 million dollars to the Cornejo family. The civil verdict was for more than the family requested. Bob Horan said at the time he was "surprised" by the testimony of two eyewitnesses to the shooting presented at the civil trial. The testimony had been overlooked or discounted by investigators, but was key to to the civil verdict. The family is unlikely to ever collect on the judgment as the shooter has no known assets and has since declared bankruptcy. Bob Horan retired earlier this month without fulfilling his promise and only commenting that he "doesn't talk to politicians."
The family of Steve Cornejo has been steadfast in its request for a fair process to be followed in investigating possible criminal charges against the shooter. The testimony at the civil trial was that the shooter had been drinking, brought his girlfriend's concealed handgun to intervene in a domestic argument at a party, was the aggressor in the fight, shot the Steve Cornejo in the back after Steve Cornejo twice pleaded for his life - saying "Why do you want to take my life? Why do you want to take my life?", returned to his girlfriend's apartment and did laundry while paramedics tried to save Steve Cornejo's life, actively destroyed evidence of his involvement by picking up a spent shell casing and tearing his bloody shirt into shreds and flushing the shell casing and his shirt down the toilet, and initially lying to police that he had had any involvement in the shooting when they knocked on his girlfriend's door that evening. The shooter later turned himself in when it was discovered he had left personal items at the scene of the shooting. Blog posts since the killing have reported at least two incidents where the shooter has been the aggressor in fights at parties in Fairfax County - at one reportedly making the threat that he "has killed men for less" before being thrown out by other party goers.
The Commonwealth Attorney is an elected position, and Republican nominee Patrick McDade has promised to reopen a "fair and unbiased" investigation into the Steve Cornejo shooting if elected. Democratic nominee Ray Morrough, who is the heavy favorite in the Commonwealth Attorney campaign, has so far refused all requests for comment in the Steve Cornejo killing - including a media request made last week to campaign. Morrough has not said whether or not he intends to follow through on Horan's promise to reopen the criminal investigation. No response was received to that request and Morrough has not returned phone calls made to his office or to his campaign.
