Teen Murder Victim Identified, Targeted By Gangs: Police

ANNAPOLIS MD — Human remains found on Oct. 3 in the Annapolis area have been identified as a boy who was targeted by gangs, Anne Arundel County Police said Monday. Authorities had received a tip that led them to human remains in a wooded area near Open View Lane in Annapolis.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore said the remains were a young adult male with evidence of trauma and the manner of death was homicide. The police department said Monday that the remains have been identified as Neris Goivani Bonilla-Palacios, 17, from the 600 block of Severn Island Court in Annapolis. The teen went missing from his residence on Saturday, Aug. 5, and was reported missing to the Annapolis Police Department two days later.

Evidence leads homicide detectives to believe that Bonilla-Palacios was murdered about the time of his disappearance in a gang-related crime and he was not a random act of violence.

The county police department is handling several cases of human remains discovered in remote locations. On Oct. 20 the unidentified skeletal human remains of a woman in her 20s to age 30 were found in Shady Side in the area of Holly Drive and Chesapeake Drive. Authorities said the skeletal remains found on the shoreline had washed ashore and are likely those of someone who went missing within the past year.

There is no indication of foul play in the Shady Side case, but the county has had several cases of human remains uncovered in recent months. The murder victim whose skeletal human remains were found Aug. 28 in an Annapolis area park was identified on Oct. 26 as Jose Hernandez-Portillo, 22, from the Annapolis area; officers had been investigating his disappearance since he was reported missing on March 11, 2016.

The medical examiner earlier said signs of trauma to the remains mean the death was a homicide. Homicide detectives believe Hernandez-Portillo was murdered about the time he disappeared and said his death was a targeted crime and not a random act of violence. Officers found the remains in a wooded area of Quiet Waters Park in the 600 block of Quiet Waters Park Road in Annapolis.

In early October, five people were charged with murder after the remains of an Annapolis woman who went missing on June 24 were found buried in a secret grave in Crownsville in August. Police called the murder of Jenni B. Rivera Lopez a gang-related homicide.

The suspects charged in her death are: Brenda Argueta, 18, of Silver Spring; Ervin Arrue Figuero of Annapolis; Darvin Guerra-Zacarias, 25, of Silver Spring; Ronald Mendez-Sosa, 19, of Edgewater; and Francisco Ramirez-Pena, 22, of unknown residency.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Lopez was found buried in the area of Camp Barrett, a youth camp near Annapolis. Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare made it clear in an Oct. 6 press conference that his officers are working to mitigate gang-related activity.

"Every level of government is working around the clock nonstop to lessen the dangers to the citizens of Anne Arundel County," he said.

Altomare said Oct. 6 that three recent deaths were murders linked to gang activity, and asked the public to share tips that might lead to arrests. The location where bodies were found and other information was not released at that point for fear that more people would be hurt or killed.

The chief declined to say whether bodies found recently in the Quiet Waters area of Annapolis and along the Beltway in the Glen Burnie area were among the three gang victims killed.

He also urged any residents who think they are in danger from a gang to contact the police department. "I'm begging you to come talk to us," he said. "Your lives matter to us. It's our job to keep you safe."

"We won't desert you and we'll be there for you. That's my word as your chief of police," Altomare said. He urged them to call 410-222-4117 if they know of any rumors, or the gang tip line at 410-222-4700.

Anne Arundel County Police ask anyone with information on the death of Bonilla-Palacios to call the Homicide Unit at 410-222-4731. To remain anonymous, call the Anne Arundel County Police Tip Line at 410-222-4700 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 1-866- 7LOCKUP or text "MCS plus your message" to CRIMES (274637).

Photo of Neris Goivani Bonilla-Palacios, courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police