Man charged in Fairfax Co. crash that killed 1, critically injured 3 others

A Virginia man has been arrested in connection with a fatal crash on Burke Centre Parkway that left a teenager dead and three others with critical injuries last month.

On Monday, Fairfax County police arrested 42-year-old Jose Angel Zelaya, of Burke, and charged him with involuntary manslaughter. Police said Zelaya was speeding at nearly double the posted 40 mph speed limit at the time of the crash.

He is being held without bond.

Just after 9 p.m. on July 18, Zelaya was traveling westbound in a Cadillac XTS4 sedan when he crashed into a Kia Forte sedan attempting to enter Burke Centre Parkway from a parking lot.

The teenage driver, 17, was pronounced dead at the scene, and the three other teenage occupants of the Kia were taken to the hospital with injuries “considered to be life-threatening,” police said.

Zelaya was also transported to the hospital with injuries “not believed to be life-threatening,” police said in a news release.

Fairfax County police announced on July 26 that they’d be adding more police presence to the area, where 12 other crashes occurred this year, and 41 crashes happened in 2021.

An online petition to add a traffic light on Burke Centre Parkway has 2,244 signatures as of publication.

Police are asking anyone who may have information on the case to call the Crash Reconstruction Unit at 703-280-0543.

David Andrews

No stranger to local news, David Andrews has contributed to DCist, Greater Greater Washington and was fellow at Washingtonian Magazine. He worked as a photo/videographer for University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.

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