3 MS-13 Members Charged With Murder Of 24-Year-Old: Feds

BRENTWOOD, NY — Three members of the MS-13 gang were arrested and charged on Monday, for their connection with the 2015 murder of a 24-year-old man, Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced.

A two-count indictment was unsealed earlier today in federal court in Central Islip
charging three members of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13,

Roberto Antonio Abrego-Reyes, also known as “Splinter” and “Impaciente,” Miguel Angel Alfaro-Santos, also known as “Asesino,” and Jose Benedicto Baires-Novoa, also known as “Macabro,” were charged in connection with the murder of 24-year-old Kenneth Evans, Jr on November 28, 2015, after a two-count indictment was unsealed in federal court in Central Islip

On the evening of November 28, 2015, Abrego-Reyes, Alfaro-Santos and Baires-Novoa agreed with other MS-13 members to “put in work” for the gang – that is, to go out hunting for rival gang members to target and kill, according to court filings.

The MS-13 members armed themselves with a .38 caliber handgun and a 9mm handgun, and drove around the Brentwood area looking for potential targets.

While driving in the vicinity of Gibson Avenue in Brentwood, the trio and their fellow MS-13 co-conspirators observed three males — one of whom was Evans — walking along the street.

Although the three males were not personally known to the MS-13 members, they were wrongly presumed to be members of a rival gang and were immediately targeted, prosecutors said.

Alfaro-Santos, of Flushing, and another MS-13 member, who were each armed with a handgun, got out of the car and approached the victims. At the same time, while Abrego-Reyes, of Flushing and Hempstead, drove the vehicle, and Baires-Novoa, of Flushign and Brentwood, and another MS-13 member remained in close proximity, watching for police presence in the area and waiting to drive the shooters away from the scene, officials said.

Alfaro-Santos and the other MS-13 member then walked just behind the three victims and began shooting.

Evans was struck multiple times and died from his wounds, prosecutors said. A second victim was shot in the head, but survived the attack. The third man escaped injury.

Following the shooting, the MS-13 members in the car picked up the two shooters, and all fled the scene, prosecutors said.

“With these arrests, we are holding the defendants accountable for senselessly shooting two innocent bystanders, striking one in the head and killing the other, leaving fear and grief in their wake,” said Peace. “This should serve as a warning, that there is no amount of time that will stop this Office from pursuing justice to keep our communities safe.”

Baires-Novoa, who is a member of the Guanacos Lil Cycos Salvatruchas (Guanacos) clique of the MS-13, was arrested in Brentwood, on Tuesday by members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Long Island Gang Task Force (FBI LIGTF) and was arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks.

He was ordered to be detained and is pending trial.

Additionally, Alfaro-Santos, who is also a member of the Guanacos clique of the MS-13, appeared in federal court in the Middle District of Pennsylvania on Monday, and was ordered removed to the Eastern District of New York to face charges.

Abrego-Reyes, a member of the Indios Locos Salvatruchas (ILS) clique of the MS-13, is presently in state custody at the Nassau County Correctional Center and will be transferred to federal custody and arraigned at a later date.

“The senseless and gruesome acts committed in the name of MS-13 are hard to comprehend,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison said. “This department, along with our law enforcement partners, will never stop pursuing justice for those killed at hands of gang members. Even though seven years have passed since this murder, investigators never gave up.”

If convicted, each defendant faces mandatory life in prison or the possibility of the death penalty.

This indictment is the latest in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting MS-13 members.

The gang's leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States.

With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York.

A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges
for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults.