Cops: Victim stabbed over 100 times, decapitated in brutal MS-13 killing
WHEATON, Md. -- Police in suburban Washington, D.C. say they've made an arrest in the brutal gang-linked killing of a man found stabbed to death in September in a Maryland park.
The victim's body was found in a grave Sept. 5 in Wheaton Regional Park, according to Montgomery County Police. Court documents obtained by the Washington Post say the victim had been lured to the park, possibly in the early spring, by as many as 10 gang members and then stabbed more than 100 times.
The body had been decapitated, dismembered, and "his heart had been excised from his chest and thrown into the grave," the paper reports.
The victim has yet to be identified.
Montgomery County police linked the killing to the notoriously violent gang MS-13. They identified 19-year-old Miguel Angel Lopez-Abrego as one of the assailants and charged him with first-degree murder.
Lopez-Abrego was arrested in North Carolina Nov. 11, according to CBS affiliate WUSA9. He appeared in court in Maryland in Wednesday and was ordered held without bond.
The Washington Post reports police believe the killing was planned for at least two weeks and the grave was dug ahead of time.
The charging documents reportedly did not detail a motive.
U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement tells the Washington Post they've lodged a detainer for Lopez-Abrego, who they say is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador.