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Immigration officials: Suspect in Maryland gang murder had been deported twice

Washington Post 4 hours ago

September 9 at 6:30 AM

A 28-year-old gang member charged in the brutal stabbing death of a Maryland teenager had been deported twice to El Salvador in the past two years, according to U.S. immigration officials.

Oscar Delgado-Perez is expected to make his first appearance in Montgomery County court on Friday afternoon in a killing detectives suspect was over gang bragging rights.

Detectives say that on June 16, Delgado-Perez and at least two other members of the MS-13 gang stabbed Cristian Villagran-Morales, 18, more than 40 times in a park in Gaithersburg. Delgado-Perez “directed” the attack, detectives wrote in an affidavit filed in court. Police had been searching for him for more than two months and found him Wednesday at a Red Roof Inn in Rockville.

 Delgado-Perez’s exact activities in Maryland or how was able to enter the United States at least three times weren’t immediately clear.

But on Oct. 24, 2014, and again on Feb. 26, 2015, he was “removed to El Salvador,” said Sarah Rodriguez, a spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, also known as ICE. In general, such removals result from rulings issued by U.S. immigration judges, Rodriguez said.

 

Delgado-Perez is currently locked up in the Montgomery jail, charged with first-degree murder. ICE has placed a hold on him because he probably faces a deportation case, too. If he were convicted in Maryland courts in the murder case, he probably would serve his full sentence before being returned home a third time.

While the challenges of illegal immigration are part of the national political debate, they confront local police every day in complicated ways.

The Montgomery County Police Department supports ICE’s efforts to deport violent offenders, says Police Chief Tom Manger. But on the streets, Montgomery officers and detectives also must have the trust of immigrant communities, he said. That means being able to talk with undocumented residents and not ask about their immigration status, he said, so they are willing to report crimes and help solve them.

“We have to strike that right balance,” said Manger. “We’ve got to be able to go into those communities and have trust and cooperation.”

Manger said he understands the anger residents feel when they hear about deported individuals who return and commit violent crimes. “Certainly any community is better off without these individuals,” he said.

In Montgomery County, the challenges are playing out in the context of a rise in homicides linked to MS-13, the violent gang with ties to Central America.

Last year, assailants with links to MS-13 allegedly stabbed and hurled heavy rocks on a victim as he crawled away from an attack toward a stream, according to court records. In another homicide, the victim was told, “Get on your knees,” before being shot in the face, neck and shoulder while in the woods.

In the case that led to the murder charge against Delgado-Perez, a 19-year-old named Vanesa Alvarado allegedly used the promise of sex to entice Villagran-Morales into Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg.

Once they arrived, MS-13 members came up to Alvarado and Villagran-Morales and asked him whether he wanted to go into the woods to smoke marijuana, police said. He agreed to do so.

In July, police arrested Avarado and one of the alleged gang members who approached Villagran-Morales at the park: Juan Gutierrez-Vasquez, 16, who was charged as an adult.

When Gutierrez-Vasquez was interviewed by detectives, he told them the victim was thought to be a rival gang member, according to court records. But detectives said they found no evidence of that and said the attackers may have made up the claim to gain street credibility.

Gutierrez-Vasquez came to Montgomery County from El Salvador earlier this year, police believe, and joined MS-13 after arriving. “I think he was recruited here,” Detective Dimitry Ruvin has said in an earlier interview.

The victim, Villagran-Morales, was born in Guatemala and arrived in Montgomery this year from New Jersey to live with relatives, police said. He had been doing landscaping work. The young man sent money home to his father in Guatemala, according to friends.

Police have said at least three people were involved in the attack.

On Thursday, they said that they continue to look for suspect Jose Coreas Ventura, 20, who also goes by the name Josue Corea, and should be considered armed and dangerous.

Police officials ask that anyone with information about Ventura or the slaying call 301-279-8000. To be eligible for a reward, tipsters should call 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). Callers may remain anonymous.

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