Chicago Heights Girl's Murder Was Result of Gang Rivalry: Prosecutor

CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL -- A teen was charged in last week’s brutal stabbing and beating of a Chicago Heights girl, whose body was dragged from an alley and left for dead in a yard.

Yerni Arriaga, 17, has been charged as an adult with the first degree murder of 17-year-old Melanie Valencia, over what was an apparent gang dispute between Arriaga and Valencia’s boyfriend, prosecutors said.

Arriaga appeared before Cook County Judge Darren Bowden in Markham for a bond hearing on Wednesday afternoon, clad in a white t-shirt, following his arrest on Tuesday.

The prosecutor said that Arriaga and other unapprehended co-defendants were members of the Latin Kings street gang. Valencia’s boyfriend was a rival Latin Count gang member.

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The group met Valencia around 9:25 p.m. Feb. 22 near 15th Street and Campbell Avenue in Chicago Heights. After luring the girl to an alley, the alleged gang members started attacking and beating her, the prosecutor said.

During the beating, Arriaga was said to have taken out a knife and stabbed Valencia 30 times. The prosecutor said that after the girl was stabbed and beaten, the group dragged her to a nearby neighbor’s yard in the 1400 block of Schilling Avenue and left her body there.

The same resident told police that she heard a girl screaming. When she looked out her window, she saw the teen’s body in her yard and called 911. Attempts were made to revive Valencia, who was later pronounced dead at the scene.

The Cook County Medical Examiner determined the girl died of blunt force trauma and multiple stab wounds. Her death was ruled a homicide.

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An investigation by the Chicago Heights Police Department and the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force revealed that Arriaga had sent several taunting text and Snapchat messages and images of the girl to her boyfriend, the prosecutor said.

Valencia’s boyfriend responded by sending a video to Arriaga of himself and the girl having sex. The prosecutor said the video of a rival Latin Count engaged in sex enraged Arriago, sealing Valencia’s fate.

Arriago was arrested Tuesday night at his apartment. The prosecutor said that police located the texts and images on Arriago’s cell phone. Police also search the apartment, where they located the pants Arriago had been wearing the night of the alleged murder. Further forensic analysis revealed spots on the pants to be blood.

Also recovered was a jacket, that family members identified as Melanie’s jacket.

Judge Bowden set bail at $5 million. The judge also set special conditions Arriaga receive no visitors unless cleared by counsel. Arriaga is due back in court on March 23 in Markham.

Even though Arriaga has been charged as an adult, the 17-year-old is in the custody of Juvenile Temporary Detention Center.