On May 15, 2024, two 18-year-olds met in a Centreville business park to conduct a drug deal. Centreville’s Hassan Kanu was to purchase 3 ounces of marijuana from Michael Alcantara of Manassas. But when something went wrong, a shootout ensued, with Kanu fatally killing Alcantara.
Kanu then quickly ditched his gun before returning to the scene and lying to responding police officers that
The victim, Michael Alcantara
He stood trial two years later, this past March 9-18, in Fairfax County Circuit Court, with the jury ultimately convicting him of the lesser felony charge of manslaughter. He returned Sept. 3 to learn his punishment and was sentenced to six years in prison.
“Mr. Kanu came to do a drug deal that day, with no money, and shot Michael in the back as Michael was running away,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Kennedy Nyhoff. “Kanu then left, hid his gun in a storm drain, returned to the scene and pretended to be an innocent bystander – without acknowledging his role in [this offense], as Michael lay dying/dead [on the ground].”
The crime occurred in the parking lot of the Centre Lee Business Park along Route 29. There, Kanu had entered Alcantara’s car, ostensibly to buy marijuana. Both had brought guns and, at some point, Alcantara jumped out of his vehicle and Kanu followed.
During the trial, police homicide Det. Michael Hengemuhle testified that – according to Kanu’s Cash App records – his attempt to pay Alcantara for the marijuana that morning via that digital wallet was declined due to lack of funds. The price was $340, but Kanu only had $5 in the bank account he’d linked to it.
The jury saw video of the incident and Kanu fleeing, and witnesses testified about what they saw and did that day. Alcantara’s mother, Diamond Bierlein, said she’d known about the drug deal because the money her son made helped support their family.
“When he didn’t come home, I checked with his girlfriend for his location,” said Bierlein. “And when I got there, he was dead.” She said he took a gun with him anytime he went to sell “weed,” except to friends, because “he’d been robbed and beaten at gunpoint before.”
Before Kanu was sentenced, she and Alcantara’s girlfriend, plus others, testified about the impact his death has had upon them. Taking the witness stand first was girlfriend. “Michael was my boyfriend of four years but we knew each other for six years,” she said. “We worked together at [concert venue] Jiffy Lube Live, [where he was a sous chef], and he supported my plans to become a nurse. We were inseparable.”
But he was killed two weeks before her high-school graduation, she said, ending her dreams of them eventually getting married and having children. She’d gone with Bierlein to the scene that day and, she said, “I’ll never forget what I saw. No girlfriend should ever have to see their significant other like that, lifeless, with blood [around them].
“I’ll never hear his voice again or be the same person. My trusting is different. Michael was the most protective, kind, caring person I’d ever met. He made me feel loved. Michael deserved more than just 18 years of life.”
Her mother, Layla Truax, called him “honest, hardworking, loyal and compassionate. He took pride in his job and loved working with kids with special needs. He’d take the ones in wheelchairs to the park and made sure they had someone to talk to. How many high-school kids do that?
“He’ll never experience all the milestones of life – birthdays, a family, etc. We’re not just left with grief, but trauma. Seeing his lifeless body is something we’ll never unsee. The images come back, as well as the phone call from the detective saying he’d been shot. At my daughter’s graduation, we were grieving for the person who should have been there beside her.”
“Michael was also a son, brother, grandson, nephew and friend – and every one of them lost their own version of him that day,” continued Truax. “He wasn’t a violent person looking for a confrontation. His life was taken over $340 worth of marijuana, and Michael’s life was worth infinitely more. We don’t get to move on from this; we just learn to adjust to live around the places where he should be.”
Testifying next was Alcantara’s grandmother, Terrie Bierlein. “My daughter and family are broken because Michael was taken from us, and this was no accident,” she said. “Kanu didn’t just take Michael’s life but changed the lives of all those who loved him.” Crying, she said, “Kanu murdered my grandson. He gets to see his family – I don’t get to see Michael. I want Kanu to receive a long sentence. If not, I think someone else could be harmed.”
Sobbing, as well, Diamond Bierlein said she was 15 when she became pregnant with her son. And although life was often tough for them, she said Michael always helped others, fed the homeless and worked hard. “He was a good kid and supported our whole family with his job. He had a heart of gold and so much empathy.
“My other two kids and I are suffering every day, and it’s nonstop. It hurts so bad, and I never want another mother to feel the way I do. I’m broken for the rest of my life. I’m questioning whether God is real. Michael would have contributed something good to this life. My children and I always said, ‘I love you,’ but now it’s in fear that one of us will walk out that door and not come back.”
Defense attorney Farheena Siddiqui said Kanu, too, was raised by a single mom and, at age 12, was sent to Sierra Leone – a country he didn’t know – to live with family he also didn’t know. “This led to even more instability and chaos,” she said. “When he moved back, he couldn’t adjust and felt isolated from his peers. But he could also be kind and show up for others, and letters written on his behalf show he’s not malicious.”
Siddiqui said Kanu was “distraught” when he learned Alcantara had died and even wrote a letter apologizing to his family. Saying how remorseful Kanu is, she asked Judge Dontae Bugg to sentence him to the lower end of the state sentencing guidelines, two years, four months. But Nyhoff asked for 10 years and gave Bugg information the jury wasn’t allowed to know.
She said Kanu is set to plead guilty in Prince William County to carjacking and brandishing a firearm. “That sentence was deliberately delayed so it wouldn’t affect his sentencing guidelines here,” said Nyhoff. “Otherwise, the recommended maximum for his offense here would have been 14 years, 11 months. He’s only 20 now; he still has his whole life ahead of him. Michael does not.
“Kanu committed the carjacking on March 14, 2024, was arrested for it March 31 and was released on bond in April. He then killed Michael [the next month] while out on bond for armed carjacking.” Nyhoff said more convictions and light sentences for other offenses followed for Kanu in August 2024 and in April and October 2025.
“He continued to show a pattern of violence, unconcerned and unphased by the consequences of his actions,” she said. “He’s already served two years, two months for this offense; if he received the low end of the guidelines, he’d be released today. He still did serious crimes after being initially charged with murder for this case, and he’s seen friends killed, and none of that made him stop. Sometimes, people need to feel the consequences of their actions, and a lesson needs to be taught.”
Kanu then stood, apologized to Alcantara’s family and said he regrets ever going to the business park that day. “Every day, I ask God for forgiveness,” he said. “I’ve been going to classes and trying to better myself in jail.”
Before pronouncing sentence, Bugg told the victim’s family, “Nothing this court can do can erase what happened. I hope that, as time passes, you’re better able to deal with your loss.” He also said he believes Kanu is remorseful, but told him, “I’m worried that, if you continue down this path, you might end up in jail again or worse.”
He then sentenced Kanu to 10 years in prison, with four suspended, and placed him on five years supervised probation. Bugg also ordered him to undergo a mental-health evaluation and follow any recommended treatment, plus complete a cognitive decision-making course.
Afterward, outside the courtroom, Diamond Bierlein said she was “disappointed and disgusted” with the legal system. “Kanu was out on bond, and less than a month later, he murdered my son,” she said. “If he was held accountable the first time, we wouldn’t be here.”