MS-13 gang member sentenced to 30 years for brutal stabbing death of 16-year-old

The teenager was killed by street gang after being suspected of cooperating with police

A typical traffic sign carries an extra message indicating it as territory for the El Salvaldorian gang MS-13 near Annandale High School in the Washington DC, suburb of Annandale, Virginia. (AFP via Getty Images)

An MS-13 gang member was sentenced to 30 years behind bars for the killing of a teenager who was stabbed more than 100 times before his body was set on fire.

Kevin Alexis Rodriguez-Flores, 20, was jailed for the death of 16-year-old Jacson Chicas after pleading guilty as part of a plea deal with prosecutors.

Rodriguez-Flores, who is from Annandale, Virginia, was one of four men who were indicted in the March 2019 killing of Jacson Chicas.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise and conspiracy to destroy and conceal evidence in relation to the killing.

Once he has served his 30 years in a federal prison he will get five years of supervised release.

Kevin Alexis Rodriguez-Flores (Mugshot)

Mr Chicas, who was part of the gang, was killed after being mistakenly believed by Rodriguez-Flores and other MS-13 members to have bene cooperating with police.

Any cooperation with law enforcement is viewed as a violation of one of the gang’s principal rules, according to the plea documents.

The victim was stabbed with knives as he was interrogated by the gang at a home in Hyattsville, Maryland, before the “clique” leader ordered him to be killed.

Mr Chicas was not named in the indictment, but has been previously identified by police in the case.

Court papers state that Rodriguez-Flores and other gang members stabbed the victim repeatedly with knives in the basement of the residence.

After his death an autopsy report stated that he had sustained 144 cut and stab wounds and his throat had been cut.

The clique’s leader then ordered the victim’s body to be dumped in a “secluded location” in Stafford County, Virginia, where it was burned.

According to the indictment, Rodriguez-Flores stayed at the scene to “destroy, remove and conceal evidence.”

His lawyer, Alfred Guillaume III, said that his client was remorseful for what he had done.

“Our hearts go out to the family of the victim,” said Mr Guillaume.

The Justice Department says that MS-13 is a national and transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador.

Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Maryland, Virginia, and throughout the United States.