Three affiliates of the infamous gang MS-13 pleaded guilty Tuesday to their roles in the torture and murder of a Virginia teenager in what the case prosecutor called a revenge killing.
After coming to agreement on a plea deal with prosecutors, Cindy Blanco Hernandez, 19, Aldair J. Miranda Carcamo, 18, and Emerson Fugon Lopez, 17, have pleaded guilty to a series of charges that include abduction and gang participation.
The trio had assisted three other gang members in the killing of Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas, who was tortured and brutally stabbed to death in a Virginia park in January, according to New York Post.
Rivas, a Gaithersburg, Maryland resident, had reportedly told her mother that gang members at her school were threatening her at school in December, and only a short time later allegedly kidnapped her. The group took her by car to Lake Accotink in Springfield, Virginia, where she was allegedly forced to stand barely clothed in snow and then freezing water before the killing began.
NY Post reports FBI Fernando Uribe testified in July that Jose Cerrato, 17, an alleged gang member, filmed and narrated the event on a cellphone with the intent of sending the act to gang leaders in El Salvador.
Although it is uncertain whether the video was sent, the Washington Post reported that he was promoted for his role in the murder.
Prosecutors view the killing as an act of revenge for the death of Christian Sosa Rivas, 21, who was allegedly lead to his death by Reyes Rivas. Sosa Rivas was thought to be a member of a rival gang, according to prosecutors and his girlfriend, Venus Romero Iraheta, 17, who also is an MS-13 cohort thought to be involved in the killing of Reyes Rivas, blamed her for her boyfriend's death.
At this point, 18 people have been arrested in the murder plot, and cases like this have only increased the fervor of which the current administration seeks to eradicate the gang from the country.
Thank you for supporting MRCTV! As a tax-deductible, charitable organization, we rely on the support of our readers to keep us running! Keep MRCTV going with your gift here!