Fairfax police search local house, vehicle

Fairfax County police searched the home and vehicle of a Woodbridge man Thursday, searching for clues into the April 24 shooting death of the man’s 24-year-old ex-wife.

Sgt. Ken Baine, spokesman with the Fairfax County Police Department, said an arrest warrant has not been issued and no charges have been made against Marlo Lamar Small of 15546 Horseshoe Lane in Woodbridge.

Fairfax detectives filed a search warrant in Prince William County Circuit Court in order to try and locate items associated with the murder in Small’s home and vehicle.

According to the affidavit, Michelle I. Quiles was found dead in her vehicle, which was parked along the side of the road on the 4300 block of Americana Drive in Annandale on April 25.

Quiles and Small had been married only for a short time, according to court documents; the couple shared custody of their two children, ages 4 and 2.

Family members of Quiles told Fairfax police that the marriage between the two broke up because Small was a “controlling individual.” The search warrant also states that Quiles had complained to her family that there were incidents of physical and psychological abuse by Small. No incidents were ever reported to police.

Small told detectives that he was attending a computer school in Annandale on the night of April 24 and was there until about 10 p.m. that night. After that, he said he went to a Woodbridge grocery store and then went home.

Upon checking Small’s whereabouts, the search warrant states that Small’s time is “unaccountable during the period of Michelle’s disappearance and has proven to be a direct lie.”

When police searched Small’s’ vehicle on April 25 they found a plastic trash bag that contained a bloody sports jacket and shirt, which Small said was due to an incident occurring in Washington, D.C., last fall.

Detectives stated in the search warrant that the incident had not been confirmed.

Small did tell detectives that he had previously purchased a .38-caliber handgun, a type of gun that matched the shell casing found in Quiles’ vehicle on April 25. No weapons or associated items were retrieved in the search Thursday, police said.

Baine said he would not further comment on the investigation, other than to say Small was a “person of interest.”