ICE: 6 MS-13 Gang Members, Illegal Immigrants Involved in Fatal Stabbing

Seven suspects have been charged with first degree murder in the death of Daniel Alejandro Alvarado Cuellar. Baltimore Police

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) official said that six suspects involved in the slaying of a Maryland man are illegal immigrants and MS-13 members.

Seven suspects were charged in the killing of 21-year-old Daniel Alejandro Alvarado Cuellar, officials said on Tuesday, Sept. 3.

But an ICE official told Fox News on Sunday that six immigration detainers were issued for six of the seven suspects. The spokeswoman said that six of the seven are in the United States illegally and are members of the violent gang MS-13.

The suspects were identified as Jonathan Escobar-Hernandez, 20; Marlon Leonardo Fabian-Flores, 20; Edwin Edgardo Garcia-Martir, 18; Hugo Portillo-Chavez, 31; Jose Fausto Rivera-Coreas, 19; Odaliz Rosas-Yanez, 20; and Leonel Alexander Velasquez-Hernadez, 16.

The seven suspects are being held without bail in the Baltimore County Detention Center, police told Fox. All seven could face a life sentence in prison, said officials, who added that others could be charged in the case.

According to the Baltimore Sun, citing charging documents, the MS-13 members stalked Cuellar as he left the laundromat before stabbing him to death. One killer allegedly had a machete-style knife.

Investigators said that it stemmed from a war between MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang.

An MS-13 gang member in detention in San Miguel, El Salvador, on March 4, 2013. Marvin Recinos/AFP/Getty Images

“The victim had been seen making a hand gesture that was believed to be indicative of an affiliation with the 18th Street,” detectives wrote, according to the Sun.

MS-13 is particularly active in Maryland, but its gang activity is centered around the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

In 2019, a 14-year-old girl was killed by MS-13 gang members using a machete and a baseball bat.

Months before that, five MS-13 members were arrested for the slaying of a 16-year-old MS-13 gang member. He was found stabbed more than 100 times.

Most Wanted Suspect Sentenced

Several weeks ago, an MS-13 gang member who once was on the FBI’s top 10 list of most-wanted fugitives received a 25-year sentence for killing a man on behalf of the gang and agreeing that a conspirator would commit multiple violent acts, according to The Associated Press.

Walter Yovany Gomez pleaded guilty in June to racketeering conspiracy.

A 2013 indictment charged Gomez and another man with the fatal beating and stabbing of a fellow gang member suspected of associating with a rival gang in Plainfield, New Jersey. According to the FBI, the victim’s throat was slit, he was struck in the head with a bat and stabbed 17 times with a screwdriver.

Gomez’s accomplice was convicted of the crime.

Gomez fled New Jersey but was captured in northern Virginia in 2017.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.