MS-13 Involved In Teen's Murder Near Loch Raven Reservoir: Police

TOWSON, MD — Five people have been charged with murder in connection with the death of a teen found on a trail near Loch Raven Reservoir. Police said the five men charged in her death are believed to be members of MS-13 motivated by her potential involvement with a rival gang.

Detectives say the suspects knew the victim and lured her to the area where she was murdered.

Gabriella Alejandra Gonzales Ardon, 16, of Glen Cove, N.Y., was found dead on a wooded trail off Pot Spring Road near Colonade Road. Officials said a passerby found her May 29 at the bottom of a slope near the edge of a stream along Merryman Trail.

Ardon was identified by family after they reported her missing and learned of the Baltimore County Police Department's social media posts revealing tattoos on her arms. One showed an alien on her left forearm, the letters "J.G." on her left wrist, a broken heart with a pair of parallel lines running through it, and "XXVIII.III.MCMLVIII" on her right forearm.

The teen was previously reported missing in July 2019, in late February and in March. Police said on March 26 the girl could be headed to Baltimore.

Five people have been charged, and all were already in custody at the Baltimore County Detention Center in connection with other crimes, officials said.

• Jonathan J. Pesquera-Puerto, 19, of 600 block of South Newkirk Street, Baltimore
• Edys O. Valenzuella-Rodriguez, 20, of the 2000 block of Dundalk Avenue, Dundalk
• Wualter Hernandez-Orellana, 19, of no fixed address
• Asael Ezequie Gonzalez-Merlos, 16, of the 800 block of Baltimore Street, Baltimore
• Wilson Art Constanza-Galdomez, 21, of no fixed address

All five were charged with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit murder, assault and kidnapping.

They are being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center without bail.

The MS-13 gang has between 50,000 and 70,000 members, mostly concentrated in urban areas in Central America or locations outside the region where there is a large Central American diaspora, according to a report by InSight Crime and the Center for Latin American & Latino Studies posted on the U.S. Department of Justice website.

The gang's frequent, public acts of violence often have "no deeper meaning or purpose" than to illustrate devotion to the gang, a manifestation of ruthlessness towards the outside world, or both, the MS-13 report said.

"In El Salvador, the gang is training, increasing its capacity and professionalizing. But in places like Long Island, Maryland and Massachusetts, the gang appears to be flailing with little purpose other than to commit barbarous, often symbolic acts of violence designed to exert social control and show 'commitment' to the gang," the report said.

There have been other recent cases of brutality involving suspected MS-13 members in central Maryland.

In July 2019, police said a man was killed near an apartment building in the 8400 block of Loch Raven Boulevard by suspected MS-13 members who targeted him for belonging to a rival gang known as 18th Street.

A woman was killed in September 2017 in Crownsville by a group of MS-13 members with machetes and knives who believed she was affiliated with the 18th Street gang as well, officials said.

Multiple deaths in Montgomery County have been attributed to MS-13, including the slaying of a hiker in Silver Spring in 2017 and a racketeering conspiracy in Prince George's and Montgomery counties from 2015 to 2017.

Patch editor Dan Hampton contributed to this report.

See Also:

• Body Found Near Loch Raven Reservoir: Police
• Nassau Teen Found Slain On Walking Trail In Maryland: Police
• MS-13 Spreads In Maryland: FBI
• 3 More Charged In Loch Raven Murder Reportedly Linked To MS-13
• Hundreds Of MS-13 Gang Members Arrested In 2017 Immigration Raids In MD, VA