Man who fled after killing convicted again

A 28-year-old man who fled to Ethiopia after the killing of a young couple in Virginia was convicted a second time in connection with the December 2016 deaths, authorities announced Thursday.

Yohannes Nessibu was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm in commission of a felony in the shooting of 22-year-old Henok Yohannes. He had previously been convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of 22-yearold Kedest Simeneh.

Family members of the victims had said previously that detectives told them that Nessibu had gone with a group to Yohannes’s home to purchase drugs but that the deal went awry and Nessibu shot him. Nessibu then forced the people to drive to a Burke neighborhood where Simeneh was found shot, family members have said. After the killings, Nessibu fled to Ethiopia.

He was arrested and extradited in 2019, which an Ethiopian Embassy official said was possible because he was a U.S. citizen.

Sentencing for both convictions is set for June 16