Mauricio Alvarado-Vasquez sentenced to life in prison for 2 murders, attempted murder, shooting

Mauricio Alvarado-Vasquez has been convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for his role in multiple murders and attempted murders that happened in 2019. Alvarado-Vasquez, 31, was convicted after a four-week-long trial in July. 

Alvarado-Vasquez is part of the MS-13 gang. He was convicted of the Sept. 8, 2019 murder of Vicky DeDios, the Nov. 2, 2019 murder of Carlos Ramirez-Rivera, the attempted murder of Alexander Portillo between September and October 2019, and an apartment complex shooting on Nov. 11, 2019 where six people were injured with gunshot wounds. 

"Our law enforcement partners were instrumental in helping us bring justice to victims and shutdown an organized criminal enterprise that had been terrorizing the community for several months," Chief Deputy District Attorney Jason Siers said in a statement. "Hundreds of hours were spent reviewing surveillance video and speaking with witnesses to put all of the pieces to the puzzle together."

 More than a dozen defendants were charged with MS-13 gang-related crimes between 2019 and 2020. 

"This is one of the most violent and brutal gangs I have come across in my career as a prosecutor," District Attorney John Kellner said in a statement. "I cannot stress enough how grateful I am to the state and federal law enforcement team that dedicated years to bringing these defendants to justice. Their efforts prevented this transnational criminal gang from gaining a foothold in our community."