MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty To Luring 15-Year-Old To His Death: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A member of the deadly MS-13 street gang pleaded guilty to the 2019 murder of a 15-year-old in federal court Thursday, according to prosecutors.

Lidia Del Carmen-Rodriguez, 19, of Central Islip, an associate of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the use of a firearm, which caused the death of 15-year-old Jasson Medrano-Molina, according to Breon Peace, acting United States attorney for the eastern district of New York.

According to prior court filings and Del Carmen-Rodriguez's statements during the plea proceeding, in July and August 2019, she and other MS-13 members and associates were seeking to identify, attack and kill individuals whom they believed were rival gang members in an effort to elevate their own positions in the gang.

She and her co-conspirators targeted several individuals, including Medrano-Molina, who were suspected of being members of the rival 18th Street gang, prosecutors said.

In the early morning hours of August 7, 2019, she lured Medrano-Molina and two other individuals to a secluded wooded area in Central Islip, where two of her co-conspirators, who were armed with a .40 caliber handgun and a baseball bat, were waiting, officials said.

Upon realizing the ambush, Medrano-Molina and the other two individuals ran away.

Medrano-Molina was pursued, and fatally shot multiple times at close range, prosecutors said.. The other two individuals were able to escape unharmed.

“The defendant today admitted that she helped carry out a despicable crime by luring a 15-year-old boy to his violent death as part of the MS-13 gang’s agenda to attack and kill their rivals,” said Peace. “It is my sincere hope that the family of this young victim can find some solace in knowing that the individuals responsible for this crime have been brought to justice."

Del Carmen-Rodriguez is now 19 years old, and was 16 years old at the time of the Medrano-Molina murder. She was initially charged by complaint on August 21, 2019, and, thereafter, a juvenile information on September 20, 2019, both of which were both filed under seal in the Eastern District of New York.

She was ultimately transferred to adult status by order of the Court, dated January 26, 2022. In connection with her plea today, Del Carmen-Rodriguez waived indictment and a Superseding Information, charging her as an adult, was filed publicly.

In October 2021, co-conspirator Jose Omar Sorto Portillo, also a member of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, also pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering for his participation in the murder of Medrano-Molina. He is currently awaiting sentencing.

MS-13's presence has existed on Long Island for more than two decades and has roots in Los Angeles and Central America. Between January 2016 and July 2017, at least 17 people were murdered by the gang, according to The New York Times.