WASHINGTON — Jholie Moussa was missing for two weeks in January before her body was finally found Jan. 26 in a shallow grave covered with leaves close to a walking path in Fairfax County’s Woodland Park.
Now, according the recent testimony of county police detective Brian Byerson, police know how she got there.
Nebuyu Ebrahim, Moussa’s 17-year-old ex-boyfriend who was arrested and charged with her murder over the summer, told Byerson Friday at a preliminary hearing that he expected to have an argument with his ex-girlfriend that January afternoon, but when Moussa stumbled, he grabbed her and placed her in a chokehold.
At that point, according to the detective’s testimony reported by The Washington Post, Moussa lost consciousness and Ebrahim, now 18, choked her two more times to ensure she was dead.
The hearing took place in juvenile court, but the judge decided to forward the first-degree murder case on to a grand jury who will consider Ebrahim an adult. If he is found guilty, he could face life in prison.
Earlier this year, Moussa’s aunt, Veronica Eyenga, told WTOP that knowing more about what happened to her niece on the day of her death doesn’t make things easier. “If anything, it just makes it harder because now we’re learning facts and details that we just never wanted to ever imagine in our lives,” she said.
Eyenga started a nonprofit called Not a Runaway, whose aim is to help provide resources for teens who may be in abusive relationships.
WTOP’s John Domen contributed to this report.
