Broward teen was brutally murdered by MS-13 gang in New York, feds say

Though Jefferson Villalobos fled to South Florida to escape gang violence in his native Honduras, he was brutally murdered by the notorious MS-13 gang in April while visiting family in Long Island, investigators say.

Four people are facing federal charges they murdered Villalobos, 18, of Pompano Beach, his cousin Michael Lopez Banegas, 20, of Brentwood, N.Y., and two other young men in a vicious attack earlier this year, according to court records unsealed this week.

The suspects were motivated by their desire to join the gang or they were already members and were trying to maintain their position within the criminal organization, prosecutors said.

Villalobos had lived in Broward County for about three years and played soccer for Deerfield Beach High School before dropping out to work in construction, friends said. Authorities said he was savagely murdered during an Easter week vacation with relatives in New York.

The bodies of the four victims, Villalobos, Lopez Banegas, Justin Llivicura, 16, of East Patchogue, N.Y., and Jorge Tigre, 18, of Bellport, N.Y., were found in a wooded area near a park in Central Islip. Investigators said they had been slashed with machetes.

Family members said Villalobos’ face had been mutilated and he was identified, in part, by a tattoo on his arm. His tattoo depicted two hands wrapped around rosary beads with the words “In God’s hands.”

Arrested in New York and Virginia in the last several days were: Alexis Hernandez, Santos Leonel Ortiz-Flores and Omar Antonio Villalta, who is also known as “Anticristo” or the Antichrist. Their ages were not immediately available. The fourth suspect, a juvenile, was arrested but not publicly identified.

The suspects have all pleaded not guilty and are jailed pending trial, court records show.

The four accused of the murder are among 21 people now facing gang conspiracy and other serious charges in a wide-ranging series of indictments filed against alleged members of the gang in the Eastern District of New York in the last 18 months. The charges involve about a dozen murders, several attempted murders, assaults, obstruction of justice, arson, conspiracy to distribute marijuana, firearms and other offenses.

MS-13 is the street gang La Mara Salvatrucha, a name derived from the slang words for gang, El Salvadorans and cunning, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The gang’s motto is “Kill, rape, control” and it is known for barbaric slayings and preying on recent immigrants to the U.S., according to experts.

In the U.S., the gang originated in Los Angeles, then spread to other states. It has a large presence in New York, Virginia and Washington, D.C., but is not considered prevalent in South Florida. It is believed to have about 30,000 members in the world, with more than 10,000 in the U.S., investigators said.

Efforts to contact Villalobos’ parents and other relatives and friends for comment were unsuccessful Tuesday.