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'He was taken from me!' | A Herndon family's au pair charged with murder

In February, Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan were found dead inside a home in Herndon.

HERNDON, Va. β€” A woman working as an au pair for a family in Herndon has been arrested and charged with shooting 39-year-old Joseph Nathan Ryan.

Juliana Peres Magalhaes, 23, is charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Adult Detention Center.

No one has been charged with Christine Banfield's death, yet.

Just before 8 a.m. on Feb. 24, police were called to the 13200 block of Stable Brook Way. When officers arrived, they found five people in the home – four adults and a 4-year-old child.

Two of the adults were brutally murdered. 

"The officers found Christine Banfield in an upstairs bedroom. She had been stabbed multiple times in the upper body and Joseph Ryan who had been shot multiple times in the upper body," said Lt. Erin Weeks with Fairfax County Police.

FCPD Chief Kevin Davis said at a news conference in February, that police received two 911 calls that morning. The first call was a 911 hang-up. 

During the second call "a woman was stating that a friend of hers was hurt and then a male got on the phone and said an unknown male had entered his home and he had shot them," said Lt. Weeks.

Both calls came from the cellphone, which police later determined was owned by Magalhaes, the family's 23-year-old au pair. Police believe she made the first call, and then both the au pair and Banfield's husband, 38-year-old man, who sources say is a federal law enforcement officer, spoke during the second call. 

According to police, there were no signs of forced entry at the home.

Police said Thursday that Christine Banfield and Ryan were known to each other but did not explain the nature of their relationship.

"I loved him so much," said Deirdre Fisher, Ryan's mother.

She told WUSA9 she was shocked by his death and wants justice.

Fisher described him as an animal lover who was her best friend.

"We spent countless hours as an adult on the phone he would call me all the time. I can't really tell you the level of our friendship. Not everybody gets to have that and I was blessed with that as a parent," said Fisher.

RELATED: Herndon double homicide: Husband tells 911 dispatchers that he shot man who stabbed his wife

Police said in February that Banfield’s husband told dispatchers that he'd shot Ryan after Ryan had stabbed his wife Christine.

However, on Thursday, the police department announced that they arrested the au pair, 23-year-old Juliana Peres Magalhaes, of Reston, on charges that she shot Ryan.

It's unclear why Christine's husband claimed he shot Ryan in February when police have now charged someone else with his murder.

Lt. Erin Weeks of the police department's Violence Crime Division of the Major Crimes Bureau said they are still working to determine who stabbed Christine Banfield and why.

"Just because we've made an arrest does not mean that this case is closed," Weeks said.

No other details have been released.

The police department is asking anyone who has information about the crimes to call the Major Crimes Bureau at (703) 246-7800, option 2. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by calling 1 (866) 411-TIPS (8477).

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