TOWSON, Md. (WMAR) — Seven suspects are in custody for the July 31 murder of Daniel Alejandro Alvarado Cuellar. Charging documents confirm that this murder was gang related.
Baltimore County Police say the below individuals are being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center, including 16-year-old Leonel Alexander Velasquez-Hernadez who's being charged as an adult.
- Jonathan Escobar-Hernandez, 20, of the 500 block of Castle Drive, 21212
- Marlon Leonardo Fabian-Flores, 20, of the 4700 block of Hanover Pike, 21102
- Edwin Edgardo Garcia-Martir, 18, of the unit block of Sargent Court, 21220
- Hugo Portillo-Chavez, 31, of the 200 block of Hogarth Circle, 21030
- Jose Fausto Rivera-Coreas, 19, of the 1000 block of Misty Lynn Circle, 21030
- Odaliz Rosas-Yanez, 20, of the 600 block of Knollcrest Place, 21030
- Leonel Alexander Velasquez-Hernadez, 16, of the 900 block of Cranbrook Road, 21230
Cuellar was originally found lying dead outside near an apartment complex in the 8400 block of Loch Raven Boulevard at 3:30 a.m.
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An autopsy later found that Cuellar was killed by "multiple sharp force injuries".
Charging documents reveal the suspects were watching Cuellar and had decided the day before the murder to kill him. According to the documents, this was because Cuellar was making a hand gesture affiliating him with the 18th Street gang. All of the suspects are members of the MS-13 gang or associated with members of the gang.
The suspects followed Cuellar to the Sudsville Laundromat in the 8400 block of Loch Raven Boulevard down the street from his apartment and monitored his movements. The documents said when he returned home from the laundromat half the group was waiting outside his building and assaulted him with "a machete-style knife and another smaller style knife" killing him. They then all fled the scene in Rosas-Yanez's car.
On August 14, that car was stopped in Mississippi and everyone in the vehicle was taken into custody for reasons not related to the murder of Cuellar.
Surveillance video from the laundromat and adjacent businesses showed that car and some of the suspects in the area on the night of the murder. Police questioned the suspects in relation to Cuellar's death and charged 7 of the 8 people taken into custody on August 14 in that murder.
All but one of the suspects is from nearby where the incident happened.
