Five people, including two teens, have been arrested in the slaying of a Virginia teen who was stabbed 100 times before his body was dumped in a remote area of Stafford County, Virginia, and set on fire last weekend.
Prince George’s County police said the killing was carried out by members of a clique affiliated with the MS-13 gang.
Police said they believe 16-year-old Jacson Pineda-Chicas, of Falls Church, Virginia, was stabbed to death during a group attack inside the home of a suspected MS-13 gang leader in Landover Hills, Maryland.
The suspected gang leader is 29-year-old Jose Ordonez-Zometa, according to police. He was arrested in Prince George’s County.
The four other suspects were arrested in Virginia. They are: Jonathan Castillo-Rivera, 20, of Annandale, Virginia; 18-year-old Kevin Rodriguez-Flores; 16-year-old Christian Martinez-Ramirez, of Falls Church; and 25-year-old Jose Hernandez-Garcia.
All of the suspects have been charged with first-degree murder.
Investigators said the victim, Pineda-Chicas, was also a member of the gang who traveled with other members to their leader’s Landover Hills home on March 8 for a meeting.
“Our victim in this case was part of this gang,” said Maj. Brian Reilly, commander of the Prince George’s County Police Department’s criminal investigation division, during a news conference Friday.
“These were his gang-member friends that turned on him. This isn’t a gang war. I want to make sure we get that clear. This isn’t two gangs fighting each other. This is a gang that turned on one of their own,” Reilly said.
Police are still investigating what caused the other members to turn on Pineda-Chicas, Reilly said.
When asked by a reporter to comment on the particularly violent nature of the attack, Reilly said, “To hear someone was stabbed 100 times, per the medical examiner, pretty much speaks for itself — how violent of an attack it would have been.”
He later added, “One hundred stab wounds is obviously overkill. That’s sending a message.”
After he was killed, police said the suspects drove the victim’s body to Stafford County, dumped it on the side of the road and set it on fire. A Stafford County sheriff’s deputy driving along River Road shortly before 5 a.m. on March 9 saw the fire and discovered the victim’s body.
The killing was initially investigated by the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, but Prince George’s County police took over the homicide investigation Thursday.
Police said the MS-13 clique involved in the killing operates out of Fairfax County, Virginia, but their leader lived in Prince George’s County.
WTOP’s Michelle Basch contributed to this report from Prince George’s County, Maryland.
