ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Editor's Note: The above video was published on October 13, 2020.
Some readers may find the details below disturbing. Read with caution.
A jury sentenced five members of the transnational street gang La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, to life in prison on Wednesday for their roles in the kidnapping and murder of two boys back in 2016.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, MS-13 gang members Elmer Zelaya Martinez, Ronald Herrera Contreras, Henry Zelaya Martinez, Pablo Velasco Barrera, and Duglas Ramirez Ferrera, along with their co-conspirators, targeted a 17-year-old boy of Falls Church, who they suspected was a member of the rival 18th Street gang.
On August 28, 2016, the gang lured the 17-year-old boy to Holmes Run Stream Valley Park in Fairfax County under the pretense that there was going to be a gang meeting there. Instead, in a wooded area of the park, gang members restained, attacked and killed the teenager by stabbing him more than 100 times with knives, a machete and a pickaxe. The gang then broke one of the 17-year-old's legs so that his body would fit in a pre-dug hole nearby.
Evidence also established that these same gang members, along with their co-conspirators, targeted a 14-year-old boy of Alexandria, who they suspected was a police informant.
On September 26, 2016, the gang told the boy that there was going to be a gang meeting later that night and encouraged him to attend. The 14-year-old boy then went outside in his pajamas not long after, telling his mother he was just taking out the trash. Eventually, several gang members picked up the boy and drove him to the same park where they killed the 17-year-old boy.
Once at the park, gang members restrained, attacked and killed the 14-year-old boy, stabbing and chopping him with knives, machetes and a pickaxe. They also filmed the murder with a cell phone so they could prove to the gang leaders in the United States and in El Salvador that they deserved to be promoted in rank.
Once the 14-year-old boy was dead, the gang broke his legs and tied him up with his own pajama pants so that he would fit into a shallow grave that was dug for him that night.
“Words alone are incapable of describing the tragedy and senselessness that mark this case. Mere proximity to MS-13 and its twisted code cost two unassuming teenage boys their lives. In the wake of their appallingly violent murders lie wrecked families and fear-stricken communities,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “The sentences of life imprisonment imposed by the court are fitting; they will protect the public from these five defendants, send a message to other members and associates of MS-13 that there will be severe consequences for committing violent crimes in furtherance of their gang’s illicit activities, and provide a measure of justice for the victims and their families. EDVA remains steadfast in its commitment to prosecuting members of street gangs and deterring acts of violence perpetrated in their name.”
To this date, a total of 17 defendants have been charged in this case, five of whom went to trial and were convicted of all charges.
Authorities say nine defendants plead guilty prior to trial.
“This is a profoundly disturbing case involving gang members taking the lives of young members of our community. We are proud to work with our Federal partners on cases like this to keep Fairfax County and surrounding communities safe,” said Kevin Davis, Fairfax County Chief of Police.
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