Recently, an MS-13 member was convicted of first-degree murder for the horrific killing of an 18-year-old girl. Rosa Sanchez Merino was reportedly lured from New Jersey to Maryland in 2023, and her remains were later found in a newly dug grave.
Her skeletal remains were uncovered in Olney, Maryland—around 320 miles from where she had been taken in Elizabeth, New Jersey—four months after her death, which was reportedly ordered by the notorious MS-13 gang, as reported.
Iris Alonzo Salgado, 24, was deemed guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy, and manslaughter connected to gang activity after she chose to waive her right to a jury trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court.
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, both Alonso-Salgado and another accomplice, Rivera-Delgado, had taken Sanchez-Merino to New Jersey to see friends and family.
It is noted that Sanchez Merino was acquainted with her attackers; however, no additional motive for the murder was made clear.
Prosecutors alleged that she was tricked into going to a wooded area in northern Washington, D.C., in May 2023, where she faced a brutal attack that involved being gagged and stabbed multiple times with a machete.
Alonzo Salgado, linked with MS-13 according to the Maryland State Attorney’s Office, is looking at two life sentences along with an additional 25 years when she is sentenced on January 21st.
Co-defendant Roberto Rivera-Delgado led the authorities to Sanchez Merino’s burial location on September 30, 2023. He had admitted guilt to murder and gang-related charges in July 2024 and is also awaiting sentencing.
Another co-defendant, Aracely Abarca-Melgar, is currently awaiting trial, and a fourth individual involved, who was a minor at the time, has not been publicly identified.
