WASHINGTON — A 17-year-old member of the MS-13 gang has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in the killing of a man in a Gaithersburg, Maryland, park in 2016.
Juan Gutierrez Vasquez, of Gaithersburg, was 16 when he was arrested in the killing of Cristian Villagran-Morales, whose body was found in Malcolm King Park in June 2016. He was sentenced Thursday to life in prison with all but 40 years suspended, as well as a 40-year sentence for conspiracy that will run concurrently. He will also serve five years of probation after he’s released.
Prosecutors said Villagran-Morales was not a gang member, but when asked by some MS-13 members whether he was in a gang, he flashed the hand signs of a rival gang to MS-13. After that, he was lured to the park by Vanesa Alvarado, then 19, with the promise of drugs and sex, where members of MS-13 stabbed him more than 150 times, said Ramon Korionoff of the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Villagran-Morales was simply “in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Korionoff said. “He was green-lighted” for death because of the signs he threw.
Alvarado was sentenced to 40 years in prison last year.
Vasquez’s lawyer said the teenager didn’t want to participate in the killing, but was told by other gang members that he’d be hurt if he didn’t. The lawyer asked for a 20-year sentence.
Prosecutors countered that he had plenty of time to say something, and to avoid taking part in the killing.
Korionoff said Vasquez, a juvenile, was tried as an adult in part to send a message to MS-13 that they can’t use juveniles as “tools of their violence and terror.” To young people, Korionoff said directly, “Please don’t let peer pressure turn you into a weapon for this gang.”
Vasquez, a native of El Salvador, told the court through an interpreter that he is remorseful, and apologizes to Villagran-Morales’ family. The victim’s mother, also through an interpreter, said, “I want them to pay.”
Three other people have been arrested in the killing: Josue Cuadra-Quintanilla, Jose Coreas-Ventura and Oscar Delgado-Perez, who has been described as the ringleader.
WTOP’S Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
