Fifth Suspect Arrested For Teen Murdered in Gaithersburg Park

GAITHERSBURG, MD — Montgomery County Police detectives arrested a fifth suspect for the homicide of 18-year-old Cristian Antonio Villagran-Morales that occurred in Malcom King Park and was discovered in June of 2016.

Jose Coreas Ventura, also known as Josue Corea, 20, was arrested as a fugitive on Tuesday, March 28 in Bedford County, Virginia.

On June 17, 2016 officers were called to Malcolm King Park, 1200 West Side Drive for the report of a death. First responders located the victim, Villagran-Morales of Gaithersburg, deceased in the park.

Villagran-Morales was stabbed more than 40 times after a suspect — Vanesa Alvarado, 16 — allegedly lured him to the park by promising to have sex with him, police said. Once Villagran Morales arrived, gang members asked him to go into the woods with them to smoke marijuana, where he was killed.

Ventura was charged with first-degree murder via a Montgomery County warrant, and is currently in the custody of the Blue Ridge Regional Jail Authority awaiting extradition to Montgomery County.

Related Stories:

• Victim Stabbed 40 Times, MS-13 Gang Members Sought for Murder: Police
• Teen Found Murdered in Gaithersburg Park: Police

Montgomery County Police previously arrested four suspects in connection to the murder:

• Juan Gutierrez-Vasquez, 16, of Queen Victoria Court in Gaithersburg (charged as an adult) – arrested on July 1, 2016
• Vanesa Alvarado, age 19, of Lakeworth Drive in Gaithersburg – arrested on July 1, 2016
• Oscar Ernesto Delgado-Perez, of an unconfirmed address – arrested on September 7, 2016
• Josue Fermin Caudra-Quintanilla, age 18, of Hyattsville, – arrested on February 3, 2017

Detectives believe this murder is gang-related and all five suspects are believed to be associated with the criminal gang MS-13.

Police said when Alvarado and Gutierrez-Vasquez were arrested, they told detectives that they believed Villagran-Morales was a member of a rival gang.

Villagran-Morales was from New Jersey and was working as a landscaper in the area while he lived with some cousins. He was not a member of the local gang, Capt. Darren Francke, director of the Major Crimes Division of the Montgomery County Police Department, said.

His senseless death came about after “he got involved with the wrong young lady,” Francke said. The gang decided to “assassinate” Villagran Morales. Police wouldn’t elaborate on why he was targeted.

“This young man was a hard-working young man, came down here for a job, really did nothing wrong, just made some poor decisions about the people that he was associating with,” Francke said.

Montgomery County Police held a press conference to discuss the problems of young illegal immigrants who are forced into gangs once they arrive in the area without families.

Francke said family members have to monitor what young people are doing and who they spend time with, which is difficult in an age when social media makes hanging out easy.

The county has had 10 gang-related murders from July 2015 to 2016, although just over half had ties to MS-13, said Capt. Paul Liquorie, director of the department’s special investigations division.

He attributes the homicide increase to changes in geopolitical factors in Central America, which has generated an influx in unaccompanied minors making their way to the United States to earn money to send home. Those youths are not gang members, he said, but are more likely to be victims of gang violence.

The increased violence by gangs comes from questions of respect or retaliation for a perceived slight to a gang, police said.

Since this homicide is an ongoing investigation, police cannot release additional information at this time.

Photos show: Ventura, Caudra-Quintanilla, Alvarado and Delgado, courtesy of Montgomery County Police Department. Gutierrez-Vasquez is not pictured because he's a minor.