ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Montgomery County teen with ties to the MS-13 gang has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a brutal killing in which a man was lured to a wooded area, stabbed multiple times and dumped into a shallow grave.
But prosecutors say the case isn’t over.
After 19-year-old Edwin Reyes-Martinez’s sentence was handed down, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy held a news conference Wednesday in Rockville asking members of the public to come forward with details in the case.
“There remain people at large in our community that were involved in this savage killing,” McCarthy said.
At least three other suspects in the murder of 34-year-old Marvin Vargas-Osorio were initially identified in the 2015 murder investigation, but McCarthy said prosecutors need more information to build a case.
“Multiple knives and machetes were used. This was a savage attack involving at least three or four other individuals,” McCarthy said.
According to McCarthy, Reyes-Martinez acted as the “lookout” in Vargas-Osorio’s murder. The day laborer was lured to the woods and then attacked. McCarthy said the motive was unclear but that Reyes-Martinez knew Vargas-Osorio and that there may have been some friction between the two based on Reyes-Martinez’ ties to MS-13.
“The precise motive still is a matter of investigation,” McCarthy said.
Vargas-Osorio’s body was badly decomposed when it was discovered, and McCarthy said investigators were able to identify him thanks to an old injury. When Vargas-Osorio’s body was examined, what appeared to be a small metal rod was found in his foot. Investigators found that Vargas Osorio, who worked odd jobs including construction, had once accidentally shot himself in the foot with a nail gun. What officials at first thought was a random piece of metal was in fact, the nail from that apparent workplace injury.
What’s striking about the case, other than the brutality, said McCarthy, is Reyes-Martinez’ role in two killings in a short time span.
Reyes-Martinez came to the United States at 17, McCarthy said. Enrolled as a high school freshman at Gaithersburg High School, he was already a member of MS-13, the notorious gang with international ties, McCarthy said.
Along with the 2015 murder of Vargas-Osorio, McCarthy said Reyes-Martinez was involved as an accessory after the fact in the killing of a cyclist in Montgomery Village. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to four years in prison in that case, McCarthy said.
The cases also highlight the increasing frequency and violence of gang-related crime in Montgomery County where McCarthy said, there have been 18 gang-related killings in a two-year time span. The prosecutor said that violence is not restricted to members of MS-13 and that there are other gangs that operate in the county and the region as well.
Still, McCarthy asked for information from the public.
“Again, we reiterate our plea that members of the public who know anything about this case would come forward,” he said.
