Owings Mills Man Charged In MS-13 Slaying In New York: Report

GREENLAWN, NY — Police said an Owings Mills man was charged with murder this week in connection with the brutal 2016 killing of a teen in New York.

Carlos A. Lopez-Campos, 26, was taken into custody in his hometown of Owings Mills Monday by homicide detectives from Suffolk County, N.Y., according to authorities.

Lopez-Campos was brought to New York Wednesday and charged with second-degree murder.

Police allege Lopez-Campos helped kill Estiven Abrego-Gomez, 18, of Greenlawn, N.Y., on Aug. 20, 2016. The teen's body was found in a park on Long Island.

In 2016 a man was walking through Greenlawn Park when he found the teen's body with severe lacerations that were typical of MS-13 violence, according to the Suffolk County district attorney. Abrego-Gomez's hands were nearly severed.

A member of MS-13 ordered the hit on Abrego-Gomez after he was seen on social media flashing the gang signs of rival organization 18th Street, according to Newsday, which reported his body was located near a Little League concession stand.

The cause of death was ruled sharp force injuries and blunt force trauma by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office.

Two other men, believed to be members of MS-13, have already been charged in the case.

Elmer Gilberto Santos Contreras, 24, a citizen of El Salvador whose last known address was in Roosevelt, N.Y., admitted to being a member of MS-13 who ordered the teen killed, prosecutors said. Contreras was being held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody in Virginia awaiting deportation proceedings in 2019 when the district attorney reported he was brought back to Suffolk County March 28 by Suffolk detectives to face prosecution on the second-degree murder indictment.

Anthony Gutierrez-Meza, 24, was also charged with second-degree murder and accused of working with Contreras in the killing. Gutierrez-Meza's last known address was in Valley Stream. N.Y., and he also was in police custody in Virginia in 2019 when he was linked to the crime.

In arresting Lopez-Campos this week, Suffolk police reported having help from the United States Marshals Service, Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from the New York and Maryland offices.

— By Michael Seale, Priscilla Korb and Elizabeth Janney