MS-13 Gang Members Convicted Of Killing 19-Year-Old Over Defaced Graffiti In Montgomery County

Three MS-13 street gang members have become the first to be convicted in Montgomery County of participation in a criminal organization resulting in the death of a 19-year-old, the state's attorney's office announced on Tuesday.

Junior Francisco Del-Cid, 20, of Takoma Park, Elmer Lopez-Cortez, 25, and Elvin Guzman-Machado, 20, both of Silver Spring, are facing multiple life sentences for their roles in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Willians Anderson Alberto Cruz in November 2022.

Police say that at approximately 4 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2022, officers were called to the 100 block of Colony Road in Piney Branch to investigate a reported shooting, where they found three men suffering from gunshot wounds.

Two were rushed to the hospital in "serious, but stable condition," though Alberto Cruz was found in a wooded area and pronounced dead by first responders.

According to prosecutors, the motive for the shooting was retribution for defaced gang graffiti in the forested area next to the parking lot where the shooting occurred.

Del-Cid and Lopez-Cortez opened fire on the victims after they became convinced the group was responsible for defacing the graffiti. Guzman-Machado and Jonathan Leon-Chacon waited in the getaway vehicle.

Del-Cid, Lopez-Cortez, and Guzman Machado were convicted following a three-week trial of:

• First-degree murder;
• Three counts of attempted first-degree murder;
• Conspiracy to commit first-degree murder;
• Four counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence;
• Participation in a criminal organization resulting in death.

When they are sentenced in January 2025, each man faces life in prison without parole and four additional, consecutive life sentences, plus 105 years.

Leon-Chacon, 26, of Silver Spring, is still pending charges and is set for trial on June 16, 2025.

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