Suspect in Brutal MS-13 Killing in Wheaton Held Without Bond

Steve Burns
WMAL.com

ROCKVILLE – (WMAL) A suspect in a savage gang killing in Montgomery County earlier this year has been held without bond. Miguel Angel Lopez-Abrego, 19, is one of at least ten people that prosecutors say were involved in luring a man to Wheaton Regional Park where he was stabbed over 100 times.

Investigators are still working to identify the body, but police say they got help from an informant in locating the body and implicating Lopez-Abrego. The informant, prosecutors said in court documents, was present during the killing and led police to the body in September. The informant told police the killing happened sometime in early spring.

Prosecutors said Lopez-Abrego was one of at least ten people involved in the killing.

“It does seem there are multiple people involved in this. There are a lot of moving parts in this investigation,” Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office spokesman Ramon Korionoff told reporters Wednesday.

As is common in MS-13 killings, Korionoff described an especially savage scene.

“It is a very brutal and bloody scene that was found by investigators,” he said.

In addition to over 100 stab wounds, prosecutors said the victim had been decapitated, his heart ripped out, and fingers and toes cut off.

Lopez-Abrego was caught in North Carolina, prosecutors said, with two other alleged MS-13 members wanted in connection to other murders.