MS-13 Gang Members Face Murder Charges in Union County

Four confirmed members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) street gang were indicted Thursday for a 2014 gang initiation murder in Elizabeth, authorities said.

According to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office, Carlos Amaya, a.k.a. “Padrinho,” 19; German Lisandro Benites Moreno, a.k.a. “Raro,” 21; Luis Alfaro, a.k.a. “Perverso,” 26; and a defendant who was a juvenile at the time of the gang initiation-related murder but is being prosecuted as an adult were all indicted on Thursday. The four are facing a multitude of charges, including first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy to commit murder, first-degree gang criminality and second-degree solicitation or recruitment to join a criminal street gang, authorities said.

On May 19, 2014, authorities responded to the 600 block of South Park Street in Elizabeth and discovered an 18-year-old, identified as Jonathan Landaverde, in a backyard suffering from a number of gunshot wounds, the prosecutor’s office said. Landaverde was taken to University Hospital in Newark, where he was pronounced dead.

>> Related story: Five MS-13 Members Arrested For Gang Initiation-Related Murder In Union County

An investigation into Landaverde’s death determined it was not a random murder, authorities said. Landaverde was reportedly a member of the rival 18th Street gang. According to Union County Homicide Task Force Supervisor Michael Henn, Moreno, a high-ranking MS-13 member, ordered the two juveniles to kill Landaverde.

One of the two juveniles was already a member of MS-13 and the second was initiated into the gang as a result of the shooting, authorities said.

A fifth defendant in the case, also a juvenile, is incarcerated in Texas for an unrelated matter and is expected to be extradited to New Jersey in the future.

Four of the five defendants fled New Jersey following the shooting, but were all located and arrested at various times and locations, according to the prosecutor’s office.

If convicted of the charges against him, Moreno would likely face a sentence of 70 years to life in state prison, according to the Union County Prosecutor’s Office. Amaya, Alfaro and one of the two juveniles all would likely face sentences of 55 years to life if convicted of the charges against them. The other juvenile would likely receive 45 years to life.