Ten MS-13 members who brutally beat three people to death in Queens while screaming 'no one can stop us' arrested
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK: Four complaints were unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn variously charging 10 members and associates of the Indios Locos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, with murder in-aid-of racketeering, attempted murder, murder conspiracy, related firearms offenses and marijuana distribution conspiracy.
One defendant was arrested on Wednesday, May 13, 2020, in Maryland. Five defendants were arrested today in New York and California. On May 15, 2020, four defendants will be arrested and transferred to federal custody from detention facilities where they are currently held.
Richard P Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, abd officers from FBI, HSI and NYPD announced the charges and arrests.
“The murders and crimes of violence allegedly committed by these defendants are trademark MS-13 offenses – cold-blooded, senseless and brutally violent – and pose a grave danger to the residents of our communities,” stated Donoghue. “Thanks to the hard work of federal and local law enforcement officers, the defendants will now face prosecution for the charged crimes. No matter what obstacles may arise, this Office will not rest until our mission to eradicate the MS-13 threat is accomplished.”
"MS-13 members do all they can to propagate a violent, deadly image as a gang. Their calculation that shouting the gang's name out in front of people on a subway platform will prevent anyone from interfering with a man being brutally beaten and murdered boggles the mind. Thanks to the work of the FBI Metro Safe Streets Task Force and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), their violent reputation won't protect them from going to federal prison,” stated the FBI representative.
Let's have a look at these hideous, brutal murders:
Murder of Andy Peralta
As detailed in the complaints and the government’s detention letter, alleged MS-13 associate Juan Amaya-Ramirez is charged with the murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta. On the night of April 23, 2018, Amaya-Ramirez and two others lured Peralta to Kissena Park in Flushing, Queens where they confronted him. Peralta had a tattoo of a crown on his chest which Amaya-Ramirez and the others mistakenly believed to be a symbol of the rival Latin Kings gang. The assailants fatally beat, stabbed and strangled Peralta. The victim’s tattoo was also slashed. Peralta’s assailants used Amaya-Ramirez’s iPhone to photograph Peralta’s corpse, while they displayed MS-13 gang signs with their hands. The photograph was found in Amaya-Ramirez’s iCloud account during a court-authorized search of the account.
Murder of Victor Alvarenga
Alleged MS-13 associates Douglas Melgar-Suriano and Jairo Martinez-Garcia are charged with the murder of Victor Alvarenga, who was shot and killed near his home in Flushing, Queens. In the early morning of November 4, 2018, the two defendants and a third individual laid in wait for Alvarenga. The men approached Alvarenga, who was walking down the street. After walking with him briefly, Melgar-Suriano allegedly shot Alvarenga multiple times in the head and body. As Alvarenga writhed on the pavement, Martinez-Garcia also shot him.
Murder of Abel Mosso
Alleged MS-13 member Ramiro Gutierrez and alleged gang associates Tito Martinez-Alvarenga and Victor Lopez are charged with the murder of Abel Mosso on a subway platform in Queens. In the early afternoon of February 3, 2019, Lopez and Martinez-Alvarenga followed Mosso, who they believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang, onto the No. 7-train at the Main Street station in Flushing, trailed by Gutierrez. Lopez and Martinez-Alvarenga assaulted Mosso inside the subway car and then dragged him out onto the platform at the 90th Street station in Jackson Heights. The defendants produced a gun, but Mosso wrestled it away. Gutierrez shouted in Spanish, “Nobody get involved, we’re MS-13, we’re going to kill him.” Gutierrez then grabbed the gun from Mosso and shot him multiple times, killing him.
Conspiracy to Murder and Attempted Murder
Alleged MS-13 members Marlon Saracay-Lopez and Ismael Santos-Novoa, and alleged gang associate Emerson Martinez-Lara, are charged with conspiring between May 2019 and July 2019 to murder an MS-13 associate who failed to kill a rival gang member as ordered by Saracay-Lopez and Santos-Novoa. Saracay-Lopez, Santos-Novoa and alleged gang associate Victor Ramirez are also charged with attempting to murder an 18th Street gang member. During the resulting shooting on August 25, 2019 in Jackson Heights, Queens, a co-conspirator wounded an innocent bystander in the leg.
If convicted of the murders, Amaya-Ramirez, Melgar-Suriano, Martinez-Garcia, Gutierrez, Martinez-Alvarenga and Lopez face mandatory sentences of life in prison and are eligible for the death penalty. If convicted of the firearms and attempted murder charges, Saracay-Lopez, Santos-Novoa and Ramirez face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. If convicted, Martinez-Lara faces up to 15 years in prison for marijuana distribution conspiracy and murder conspiracy.
The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador and Honduras, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States, comprised primarily of immigrants from Central America. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York. A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults.