Two MS-13 gang members from El Salvador,
both in the United States illegally, held three
teenage girls against their will and killed one of
them in a satanic ritual, authorities in Houston
said Friday.
Miguel Alvarez-Flores, 22, and Diego Hernandez-
Rivera, 18, have been arrested and charged with
aggravated kidnapping and murder — both first-
degree felonies punishable by up to life
imprisonment. Bonds totaling $300,000 have
been set for each, but immigration detainers will
keep both behind bars.
The 15-year-old girl's body was found Feb. 16
with gunshot wounds to the face and chest.
Homicide detective Sgt. Chris Sturdivant said the
girl's identity has not been officially determined
but that investigators are confident they know
who she is — a girl reported missing in January
in nearby Jersey Village, Texas.
The captives were three "young, impressionable
women" ranging in age from 14 to 16 who
succumbed to the allure of gang life before being
taken to an apartment and held there against their
will, Sturdivant said. The 14-year-old girl told
investigators that they were fed drugs and alcohol
and forced to have sex.
The girl said the 15-year-old was killed in a
satanic ritual because she had struck the gang's
shrine to a satanic saint, according to
investigators.
She told investigators that Alvarez-Flores made a
peace offering to the figure in the form of a
cigarette.
"He returned from the statue and told the entire
group that the beast did not want a material
offering but wanted a soul," state District Judge
Maria Jackson said during the men's initial court
appearance Wednesday.
The 14-year-old said she later awoke to find the
15-year-old gone, according to investigators.
The case comes as President Donald Trump is
promoting concerns over criminal immigrants in
the United States illegally. He has announced that
he plans to create an agency, called Victims of
Immigration Crime Engagement or VOICE, to
serve victims of immigrant crime and their
relatives. It will be part of the Department of
Homeland Security.
"The majority of the MS-13 members we come into
contact with are here illegally," Sturdivant said.
Attorneys for Alvarez-Flores and Hernandez-
Rivera did not immediately return calls Friday
night. Sturdivant said both men admitted their
involvement in the abductions and killing after
their arrests Monday. An FBI multijurisdictional
anti-gang task force continues to investigate, and
Sturdivant said authorities are seeking other gang
members who were possibly involved in the
crimes.
MS-13, also called Mara Salvatrucha, is believed
to have been founded in Los Angeles in the
mid-1980s by immigrants fleeing civil war in El
Salvador. It is now a major international criminal
enterprise.
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