TOP 10 TEAMS OF 2023: Freedom football, Colgan girls soccer top the list. SPORTS: PAGES 6, 7
January 11, 2024 | Vol. 23, No. 2 | www.princewilliamtimes.com | $1.00 Covering Prince William County and surrounding communities, including Gainesville, Haymarket, Dumfries, Occoquan, Quantico and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park.
Former Marine, Triangle man still face charges for Jan. 6 riot By Cher Muzyk
Daniel Lawson, 24, has been charged with murder in his wife’s death
Times Staff Writer
In the three years since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, four Prince William County residents have been arrested and charged with participating in the uprising. Among them are a former Marine officer and a Triangle man who are accused of being among the first offenders to enter the Capitol by using physical force against police. Christopher Warnagiris, 43, a former Marine major, and Micaiah Joseph, 33, of Triangle, have yet to stand trial on the multiple charges they face in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Joseph was arrested only last year after a tip and cell phone records connected him with photos taken by a police body camera inside the Capitol, according to court records.
By Cher Muzyk
Times Staff Writer
During a pretrial hearing before Judge Carroll Weimer Jr., Assistant Attorney General James Herring told the court that witnesses provided “inconsistent statements” and “the Commonwealth is unable to proceed with the misdemeanor indictment” against White. In court documents, Herring also said additional exculpatory evidence in White’s favor was discovered during interviews with witnesses, who have not been named. Herring did not provide any details about the evidence.
Desire Alexandria Buggs, of Woodbridge, was fatally shot late Saturday afternoon while in the passenger seat of her husband’s white Honda Accord, according to court charging documents. Buggs, 24, was Daniel Okoe Lawson being remembered Tuesday as a “vibrant and loving mother” of the couple’s 3-year-old son in a GoFundMe account created to raise money for the child in the wake of his mother’s death. “We are seeking your support, be it financial contributions or donations, for funeral arrangements and bringing my daughter home,” Bugg’s mother, Martha Myers, posted on the fundraising website. The fund had garnered about $2,500 in donations as of late Tuesday afternoon. Officers responded to Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center in Woodbridge at 5:04 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 6, after Buggs was brought there by her husband, Daniel Okoe Lawson, 24, for treatment for a gunshot wound to her torso. Buggs later died at the hospital, and Lawson was charged with murder in connection with her death, according to court documents. Lawson initially told police his wife was shot when “a mob of four to eight individuals” attacked them, according to court documents. During their investigation, however, police determined that Lawson had contacted a family member while at the hospital and asked him to come to the hospital parking lot to pick up his Glock 30 handgun, which Lawson retrieved from his car, according to court documents.
See WHITE, page 2
See SHOOTING, page 2
COURTESY FEDERAL CHARGING DOCUMENTS.
Micaiah Joseph, 33, of Triangle, was arrested in January 2023 after the FBI connected him to photos taken from police body camera footage and other publicly available photos, like this one on a YouTube channel. Two other Prince William County residents, a couple formerly from Bristow, were arrested shortly after the uprising and pleaded guilty in 2021 to federal misdemeanor charges. The Jan. 6, 2021, riot and insurrection forced the evacuation of both chambers of Congress,
injured at least 140 police officers and resulted in the deaths of five people, including a Capitol police officer. About $2.9 million in damages were caused to the U.S. Capitol building, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. See JANUARY 6, page 4
Former local elections chief cleared of all criminal charges Va. attorney general’s ‘Election Integrity Unit’ drops final misdemeanor against Michele White
Michele White
By Cher Muzyk
Times Staff Writer
Former Prince William County election chief Michele White was cleared of criminal charges last week after a judge agreed to dismiss a remaining misdemeanor charge related to her actions during the 2020 presidential election. White, 52, was indicted about 16 months ago on three charges of alleged corruption and lying in
Police: Woodbridge woman fatally shot in her husband’s car
connection with her duties during the November 2020 election. State prosecutors with Attorney General Jason Miyares’ Election Integrity Unit dropped two felony charges in December and the final charge — neglect of duty by an elections officer — on Wednesday, Jan. 3, just two weeks before a scheduled jury trial.
New county board chair shares her vision of hope for Prince William, page 3
Local, regional events mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, page 5
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