WASHINGTON — Five suspected MS-13 gang members have been charged with murder, months after a New Jersey man was found buried in Montgomery County, Maryland, police said.
Police said that two people were arrested Monday: Neris Moreno, 19, of New Jersey, and Jackelin Leiba-Esperanza, 16, of Brentwood, Maryland.
Three others were arrested Wednesday: Reynaldo A Granados-Vasquez, 21 of Gaithersburg, Maryland; Jose Israel Melendez-Rivera, 18, of Montgomery Village, Maryland; and Katerine Solorzano-Aparicio, 17, of Hyattsville, Maryland.
All five were charged as adults with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
The arrests are tied to the death of 22-year-old New Jersey resident Jordy Mejia. Police said hikers found his body in a shallow grave in Gaithersburg on Nov. 12.
Police said Mejia told his mother on Oct. 15 that he met a girl on Facebook and was traveling to Germantown, Maryland to meet her.
His mother reported him missing a few days later.
Police claimed the suspected gang members created a fake Facebook page of the girl as a way to trick Mejia into coming to the area so they could kill him.
