Feds indict 11 Salvadorans linked to MS-13 in teens’ deaths

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Eleven natives of El Salvador accused of being involved with the MS-13 street gang have been indicted in the slayings of two northern Virginia teenagers.

Federal prosecutors in Alexandria say a 17-year-old boy was murdered in August 2016 because they suspected he was a member of a rival gang intending to infiltrate MS-13.

The indictment says the second teen was killed because gang members thought he was co-operating with police.

The indictment does not identify the victims, but details correspond to the deaths of 17-year-old Edvin Escobar Mendez of Falls Church and 14-year-old Sergio Arita Triminio of Alexandria. Their bodies were found buried in Holmes Run Park in Falls Church in March 2017.

The eleven defendants range in age from 20 to 27 and could get life in prison.