3 Gaithersburg Murder Suspects Posed As Girl Online To Lure Victim: Prosecutor

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Three men with reputed ties to the Latin American MS 13 gang were indicted by a federal grand jury this week for a kidnapping conspiracy that used Facebook chats to lured a man from New Jersey to Maryland, in order to kill the victim as part of a plan to kill him in Montgomery County, authorities say. The victim's remains were found Nov. 12, 2016, in a shallow grave in the Gaithersburg area, roughly a month after he was reported missing.

The suspects are charged in the murder of Jordy Mejia, 22, of Guttenberg, New Jersey. Mejia’s body was found by hikers in a shallow grave in a wooded area in the 11500 block of Game Preserve Road. Montgomery County Police released photos of the shirt and shoes similar to the ones the victim was wearing when his body was found, which helped identify Mejia. Authorities have not said how Mejia died.

The indictment returned on March 20 charges these suspects:

• Neris Moreno-Martinez, also known as Jose Neris Moreno Jr., 19, of West New York, New Jersey;
• Jose Israel Melendez-Rivera, 19, of Montgomery Village, Maryland; and
• Reynaldo Alexi Granados-Vasquez, 21, of Gaithersburg, Maryland

“This indictment alleges a horrifically planned effort to lure a victim across multiple states into Maryland with the sole purpose of kidnapping and inflicting grotesque bodily harm,” said Andre R. Watson, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore, in a news release. “HSI will continue to use its wide jurisdictional authorities and collaborate with state and local law enforcement to ensure that we shield Maryland-area communities from this type of violent criminal activity.”

According to the indictment, on October 1, 2016, Moreno created a social media account in the name of Shaila Smith. For the next two weeks, Moreno and others posed as Shaila Smith and used the Facebook account to communicate with the victim. Pretending to be Shaila Smith, Moreno and the other suspects allegedly expressed a romantic interest in Mejia and persuaded the victim to travel from New Jersey to Maryland to meet in person. He was given Melendez-Rivera’s address as the location where he should meet “Shaila Smith.”

Authorities say Moreno traveled from New Jersey to Maryland on Oct. 15, 2016, in order to kill the victim. According to the indictment, Moreno, Melendez-Rivera and Granados-Vasquez killed Mejia that day in a wooded area in Gaithersburg and buried his body in a shallow grave.

The defendants each face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the conspiracy.

Police also arrested Jackelin Leiba-Esperanza, 16, of Brentwood, Maryland, on Jan. 2 in Silver Spring, and charged her as an adult with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. She is being held without bond.

Another suspects arrested Jan. 4 in Montgomery County and charged with Mejia's murder is Katerine Solorzano-Aparicio, 17, of Hyattsville. She is also charged as an adult with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.

Mejia's murder appears to be connected to the MS-13 street gang, police said.

Prosecutors said in court that Moreno and Leiba-Esperanza are extreme flight risks because they are recent immigrants who are in the country illegally. Leiba-Esperanza and her mother had fled violence in El Salvador, The Washington Post reports.

According to charging documents, on Oct. 15, Mejia told his mother he was going to Maryland to see a girl he had met on Facebook, and he planned to return the next day. The charging documents say Mejia’s Facebook account showed long talks with someone identifying themselves as Shaila Smith. Three days after Mejia left for Maryland, his mother filed a missing person report when she had not heard from him.

Police say the Facebook conversation showed Mejia was lured to Germantown to meet the fictitious girl. Mejia arrived in Montgomery County, where he was killed and buried. Authorities have not said what the motive for the murder was beyond a link to gang activities.

A phone number the person gave Mejia, along with phone records, led police to Moreno, who was living with Leiba-Esperanza for several months, WTOP reports.

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