Police think they know identity of slain teen
Houston police gave new details Friday about the recent slaying of an unidentified girl who prosecutors say was killed by two gang members as a satanic sacrifice.
A homicide detective announced that police believe they know the deceased teen’s name and are looking for other people who may have been involved in her death.
This week, two alleged members of the violent Salvadoran gang MS-13 — identified in court documents as Miguel AlvarezFlores, 22, and Diego Hernandez-Rivera, 18 — were charged with murder in the teen girl’s death.
Authorities have asked for the public’s help identifying the slain female, known by the nickname “Genesis,” because the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences has been unable to confirm her identity. The girl, whose body was found Feb. 16, did not have an ID. Photos of her face, descriptions of her clothing and a snapshot of silver rings she was wearing have been released to the public.
On Friday, Houston Police Department Sgt. Chris Sturdivant said detectives believe they know the girl’s name and met Thursday with family members he said were “just distraught that they’ve lost their daughter.”
The two men who have been charged also are accused of holding a 14-year-old girl against her will. That teen escaped and was able to contact police.
In addition to those two girls, the sergeant also revealed that there was a third underage, female captive. She is now back with her family, Sturdivant said at the news conference.
The three “impressionable young women” came under the influence of the adult male gang members and eventually were held in an apartment, Sturdivant said. The homicide detective also confirmed that at least two of them had been reported missing.
Alvarez-Flores and Hernandez-Rivera were arrested Monday at the apartment in the 2200 block of South Gessner by SWAT officers executing a warrant; they later admitted their involvement, Sturdivant said.
The slain teen’s body was found in the 9900 block of Sharpcrest Street, not far from Beltway 8 near Houston’s Chinatown area, where she is believed to have been dumped.
The young woman was 5 feet tall, weighed 108 pounds and wore size 0 jeans. One distinctive ring has a playful pattern of several elephants with raised trunks.
She was killed in an occult ritual after disrespecting the gang’s shrine to Satanism, prosecutors said Thursday in court.
The chilling allegation punctuates a still-unfolding case that includes murder and kidnapping, cocaine dealing and sex trafficking by two members of a street gang that prides itself on violence. The FBI’s multiagency local gang task force is coordinating the investigation, Sturdivant said.
Prosecutors said both men were living in the United States illegally.
Alvarez-Flores, also known as “Diabolico,” told police that he was the leader of a local MS-13 sect, prosecutors said in court. He is accused of directing Hernandez-Rivera to kill Genesis.