MS-13
A man arrested for being a member of the MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha street gang among other crimes, flashes his gang's hand sign from inside a jail cell at a police station in San Salvador, Oct. 12, 2012. Reuters/Ulises Rodriguez

Police in suburban Washington, D.C., said Wednesday that they have arrested a member of the El Salvadorian street gang, MS-13 in the brutal killing of a man earlier this year, who was stabbed 100 times, had his heart torn out of his chest and buried with him, decapitated and beheaded.

At least 10 members of the gang lured the victim into a park in Wheaton, Maryland, communicated with one another over walkie-talkies as he arrived, and then allegedly stabbed him more than 100 times, decapitated him and then cut out his heart, according to police documents, which were made public on Wednesday in Montgomery County District Court.

The victim's "heart had been excised from his chest and thrown into the grave," according to court records.

The first alleged attacker, one of the suspects in the murder to be arrested, Miguel "Timido" Angel Lopez-Abrego, 19, appeared in court on Wednesday and was charged with first-degree murder and was held in jail after a brief hearing.

“He is noted as being the first individual to thrust a knife into the chest of the decedent,” Assistant State’s Attorney Kelly McGann said in court. Police have been continuing their search for the other suspects involved in the brutal murder case.

Lopez-Abrego was arrested in North Carolina on Nov. 11 and then extradited to Montgomery County, Maryland.

Police said that the victim was likely killed between December 2016 and March 2017, and they discovered his body in a shallow grave in the woods of Wheaton Regional Park on Sept. 5. The victim has not yet been identified but investigators thought him to be a Hispanic male, maybe from Annapolis. He was reportedly wearing a sweatshirt and had a lower tooth near the front of his mouth missing, Fox News reported.

Police said the attackers dug the grave before the slaying. Authorities came to know the murder after a tip-off in September when the informant led detectives to the gravesite. The remains were tested and examined by the Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office.

“The victim had been stabbed over one-hundred times, decapitated, dismembered, and his heart had been excised from his chest and thrown into the grave,” detectives wrote in court papers, according to the Washington Post.

The first suspect, Lopez-Abrego is said to be a citizen of El Salvador, who has been staying in the United States illegally and is currently undergoing immigration proceedings, officials from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday.

The documents charging Lopez-Abrego have not cited a motive for the murder but the investigators believe that the suspects had planned to carry it out for about two weeks.

They also alleged that Lopez-Abrego helped dig the grave before the slaying and “waited near the edge of the wood line with a handheld ­walkie-talkie radio to alert the other suspects of the victim’s arrival.” He also allegedly used a 15-inch knife to stab the victim in the chest, according to police, WTOP in Washington reported.

Police released photos of the victim's belongings in order to identify him. At the time of the killing, he was seen wearing a gray sweatshirt with “First United Methodist Church Laurel” written on the upper left side. A rosary or necklace was also discovered with his body.

Anyone with any information on the person is requested to contact the Montgomery County Police Department's Major Crimes Division at (240) 773-5070.

RELATED STORIES