Reston accused killer who set off manhunt was released from jail a day earlier

A 23-year-old Reston, Virginia, man was arraigned on a murder charge Thursday after authorities say he killed a man on Wednesday and led police on a two-hour manhunt.

Two elementary schools were placed on secure-the-building status as police urgently searched for Marvin Morales-Ortez.

He killed a man he lived with, police said. That man’s name was not released, nor was information on the relationship between the two.

Morales-Ortez was released from jail the day before the shooting. According to a criminal complaint, he was charged with maliciously wounding someone who lived in the home on Sept. 12. He was taken into custody on multiple charges.

That case went before a judge on Tuesday. But the prosecutor’s office said the victim didn’t show up to court to testify against Morales-Ortez, so charges were dropped.

The judge ordered Morales-Ortez released from custody.

He has a history of mental health issues, court records say. The county’s Community Services Board issued an emergency custody order shortly after his release from jail. An ECO allows police to arrest someone who poses an immediate threat to themselves or someone else. Police can take them in and get them services.

But an ECO is only valid for eight hours. Fairfax County police said they weren’t able to locate Morales-Ortez within that window, so the ECO expired.

A day later, police say Morales-Ortez returned to his home on Fan Shell Court and opened fire, killing a man inside.

New video from a doorbell camera shows Morales-Ortez leaving the home after the shooting and trying to get into a mail truck. A neighbor said Morales-Ortez couldn’t get into the vehicle. Fairfax County police said he ended up fleeing on a bike.

Chopper4 footage shows officers going door to door in the community until officers and K9s eventually found Morales-Ortez hiding in a wooded area about a mile from home.

A community is desperately searching for a 79-year-old Virginia man who went missing on Monday after his car was found on an interstate more than 200 miles away. News4’s Megan McGrath reports.

Police released a photo of a gun they said he was carrying.

Morales-Ortez was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge. He’s due in court for a preliminary hearing in March.