Shopping Center Stabbing Leads To Fairfax Man's Sentence In Loudoun County

STERLING, VA — A stabbing at a Loudoun County shopping center has led to a 30-year prison sentence for a Fairfax man, according to the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney. The victim had survived the stabbing.

On Sept. 25, a Loudoun County Circuit Court judge sentenced William Joseph Addison, 39, to 30 years in prison. A jury previously convicted Addison of one count of aggravated malicious wounding and one count of stabbing in the commission of a felony following a two-day trial. Prosecutors had called for a life sentence, arguing that he was a danger to people he encounters.

The stabbing happened just before midnight on Feb. 4, 2023. Prosecutors say Addison was loitering at a convenience store at the Town Center at Sterling shopping center. The victim had entered the store and spoke to the clerk, but Addison believed they were talking about him, which causes him to become agitated.

The victim assured Addison they weren't talking about him, but Addison followed him out of the store. According to prosecutors, Addison stabbed the victim at least four times in the chest area as the victim was entering a vehicle.

The victim’s friend and vehicle driver drove to a nearby nightclub in the shopping center, where law enforcement were often present on weekend nights. Loudoun County sheriff's deputies arrived and gave life-saving aid to the victim. Deputies arrested Addison at the convenience store.

The victim was taken to Reston Hospital with internal injuries. He underwent trauma surgery and got blood transfusions equaling nearly his entire body's blood volume.

"It is due to the life-saving actions of the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office deputies on the scene, and the trauma surgeon who operated on this gentleman that he lived," Commonwealth's Attorney Bob Anderson said in a statement. "Loudoun County is safer today because this violent criminal is off the streets."