Five members of La Mara Salvatrucha, the transnational street gang known as MS-13, received life in prison for kidnapping and murdering two teenage boys in 2016.
Gang members Elmer Zelaya Martinez, Ronald Herrera Contreras, Henry Zelaya Martinez, Pablo Velasco Barrera, and Duglas Ramirez Ferrera were sentenced for conspiracy to commit kidnapping and murder in aid of racketeering activity, conspiracy to kidnap, murder in aid of racketeering activity and kidnapping resulting in death, a Nov. 2 U.S. Department of Justice news release said.
“Words alone are incapable of describing the tragedy and senselessness that mark this case,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica Aber said in the release. “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.”
The gang members, all originally from El Salvador, and co-conspirators targeted a 17-year-old resident of Falls Church, Va., whom they mistakenly thought was a member of the rival 18th Street gang, the release said. After luring the 17-year-old to Holmes Run Stream Valley Park in Fairfax County Aug. 28, 2016, the gang restrained, attacked and killed him. The teen was stabbed and chopped more than 100 times with a machete, pickaxe and knives. One of his legs was broken so his body would fit into a nearby pre-dug hole.
Similarly, gang members and co-conspirators targeted a 14-year-old resident of Alexandria, Va., whom they mistakenly thought was a police informant, the release said. They kidnapped the teen Sept. 26, 2016, taking him to the same park where they killed the 17-year-old. Gang members killed the 14-year-old in the same manner as the 17-year-old, breaking his legs and tying him up in his pajama pants to fit into a shallow grave.
“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,” Aber said in the release. “EDVA (Eastern District of Virginia) remains steadfast in its commitment to prosecuting members of street gangs and deterring acts of violence perpetrated in their name."
