Gang Members Face Charges in Three Killings, Attempted Murder

A grand jury has indicted 13 members of the La Mara Salvatrucha, MS-13, street gang for their alleged roles in three killings in northern Virginia and an attempted murder last fall in Woodbridge, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Suspects in custody include

• Pedro Anthony Romero Cruz, 28, residence unknown;
• Jose Lopez Torres, 25, of Falls Church, Virginia;
• Jaime Rosales Villegas, 30, of Richmond, Virginia;
• Juan Carlos Marquez Ayala, 21, of Falls Church;
• Omar DeJesus Castillo, 25, of Arlington, Virginia;
• Alvin Gaitan Benitez, 21, of Falls Church;
• Douglas Duran Cerritos, 18, of Falls Church;
• Christian Lemus Cerna, 18, of Falls Church;
• Araely Santiago Villanueva, 18, of Falls Church;
• Manuel Ernesto Paiz Guevara, 19, of Falls Church;
• Jose Del Cid, 18, of Alexandria;
• Jesus Alejandro Chavez, 24, of Alexandria; and
• Genaro Sen Garcia, 19, residence unknown.

Defendants Torres, Ayala, and Castillo, together with others, are accused of the Oct. 7 killing of Nelson Omar Quintanilla Trujillo in Fairfax County. The three defendants were allegedly assisted by Benitez in burying Trujillo’s body.

Castillo, Benitez, Cerritos, Cerna, Villanueva, Guevara, and Del Cid, are also accused in the murder of Gerson Adoni Martinez Aguilar on March 29 in Fairfax County.

Del Cid, Chavez, and Garcia, are facing charges in the June 19 shooting death of Julio Urrutia in the City of Alexandria.

Cruz, Torres, and Villegas, are also accused of conspiring in an attempted to kill an unnamed individual in Woodbridge. The Washington Post identifies the target as a “wayward MS-13 member at Woodbridge’s Gar-Field High School.”

Eleven of the defendants face the maximum penalty of death, or a mandatory sentence of life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The remaining two defendants, Villegas and Cruz, face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the attempted murder charge, in addition to a consecutive minimum sentence of 10 years in prison due to the possession of a firearm charge.

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