Venus Romero Iraheta, who was 17 at the time of the January 2017 murder, pleaded guilty in a Virginia courtroom as an adult in the murder of Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas, the Washington Post reported.
Iraheta, now 18, faces a a maximum of life in prison plus 20 years when she is sentenced on May 25.
The January 2017 killing of Reyes Rivas, which ultimately resulted in the arrest of 18 young people, highlighted the brutal nature of one of the nation’s most violent and powerful street gangs, according to the prosecution.
Reyes Rivas was taken from Maryland to a Virginia park where she was stabbed with a knife and jabbed with a stick by a large group of MS-13 members. Her body was eventually discovered after it was dumped under a highway overpass on the outskirts of Washington, D.C.
Federal prosecutors said Iraheta was the primary attacker, stabbing the 15-year-old 13 times and slicing off one of her tattoos, according to NBC Washington.
“She told the victim she would never forgive her,” FBI Agent Fernando Uribe said in courtroom testimony. “She would ‘see her in hell.’ She would never forget her name.”
Uribe testified in July that Jose Cerrato, a 17-year-old alleged gang member, filmed and narrated the killing on a cellphone with the intention of sending the footage to MS-13 leaders in...
