ILLEGAL ALIEN GANGS MAKING A COMEBACK IN NORTHERN VA

After months of investigating, two of Alexandria’s 2015 homicide cases may have been solved. Police announced on Jan. 13 that suspects were in custody for the murders of Jose Luis Ferman Perez and Eduardo David Chandias Almendarez. Though the arrests came on the same day, police say the two murders were unrelated. However, all suspects involved, according to police, share one common theme: MS-13.

As the investigation transitions into prosecution, Alexandria Police were careful about letting out too many details on the case. However, the emerging information suggests that each of the suspects involved in the homicides were somehow connected to the international gang Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). The homicides are the latest in a string of violent crimes throughout Northern Virginia committed by members of the gang over the last few years.

On Nov. 9, the body of Jose Luis Ferman Perez was found in Alexandria’s Beverley Park. The cause of death was stab wounds to the head and neck. Police say three suspects were involved in the murder: a 17-year-old male charged with the murder, an adult that Police Chief Earl Cook said was not much older than the other who was being held in another state awaiting extradition, and a 16-year-old female in custody to be charged as an accomplice. Because he was still being held in another state, police were unable to give the name or current location of the suspect. According to police, the two men are members of MS-13, while the girl was considered a gang associate.

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