Two brothers, third man die of stab wounds following altercation in home

By Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer 11/21/08

Three men died of stab wounds in a quiet Fairfax neighborhood late Wednesday, including one man who ran from a house calling for help, then collapsed on a neighbor’s front stoop.

The man who left the house on the 5500 block of Moultrie Road in Annandale had been stabbed in his upper torso, witnesses said. He muttered the name “Andy” and said, “I’m going to die” as he slipped away, said Carol Green, who had come running from a friend’s home to where the man lay bleeding.

Police would only say that the stabbing deaths were the result of a fight.

Killed were Terence Strope, 38, his brother, Ryan Strope, 26, and a third man, Andres Yelicie, 26, police said.

Neighbors said all three men rented a home together where two of the bodies were found.

The Strope brothers were described by neighbors as friendly and gregarious. Roger Ward, who lives next door, would sit with Terence Strope and discuss politics. Strope’s dogs, a boxer named Angel and a Rottweiler mix named Devious, were friendly too, Ward said.

Terence Strope worked for Capitol Concrete Solutions. He was divorced, Ward said, and had a 17-year-old daughter. Ryan Strope had recently landed a computer-based job.

Ward was watching a movie Wednesday night and missed the commotion. But across the street, Ron Lyerly could hear the shouts. As his friend Carol Green ran from his house, Lyerly loaded his gun and headed for the Stropes’ home.

About an hour earlier, around 8:30 p.m., Green and her daughter, Kelly, had just returned from shopping.

Kelly Green parked behind a white Toyota with Maryland plates in front of the Stropes’ house.

Kelly Green said she spotted a man hunched behind the steering wheel. He was still there when she left less than an hour later.

At 9:30, Lyerly heard a car alarm sounding from the direction of the Stropes’ home.

“I didn’t react, but I wish I had,” he said. Then, 15 minutes later, he heard the shouts. By then, the Toyota was gone.

“A very unfortunate and horrific event occurred in what has been and what will continue to be a nice family neighborhood,” said Art Norico, the neighbor who lives in the house the stabbed man ran to for help.

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