February 4, 2024

Virginia Man Sentenced To 100 Years After Killing Co-Worker For Stealing His Lunch

Twenty-five-year-old Bazen Berhe killed his 58-year-old Target co-worker, Hernan Leiva, after finding out that Leiva took his lunch from the refrigerator.

A Virginia man was sentenced to 100 years in prison after stabbing a co-worker to death upon discovering that the co-worker stole his lunch from the company refrigerator.

According to Fox 5 Washington, D.C., on April 17, 2021, 25-year-old Bazen Berhe of Virginia killed his 58-year-old Target co-worker after finding out that he took his lunch from the refrigerator where they both were employed. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after beating and stabbing Hernan Leiva to death in the parking lot of the Target store in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia.

The Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney announced the punishment on Jan. 30. Berhe was given a 100-year sentence with 30 years suspended, meaning he will serve 70 years in prison.

“Mr. Leiva’s unnecessary and tragic death leaves behind a grieving family and community, one that will never be the same after such a senseless act of violence,” Commonweath’s Attorney Steve Descano said. “In this case, because of the unique and self-proclaimed danger the defendant continues to pose to the community, today’s sentence was a necessary outcome for maintaining public safety.”

Behre was given the sentence because prosecutors said that he might kill or hurt other people otherwise.

Several days before the incident, on April 14, Leiva, who was a janitor at Target, took Berhe’s lunch. This angered Behre, according to prosecutors, so much that he planned on killing Leiva for doing so. The day after the theft, Berhe bought a hammer and two knives when he left his shift. He expressed to detectives that he spent the following day, April 16, “training for the murder.”

On April 17, he arrived at the employee parking lot early to wait for Leiva to arrive to work. When he saw him, Berhe attacked and stabbed him to death before leaving the parking lot. Berhe confessed to the killing and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in October 2023.