Suspected Kid Killer Admits He Escaped Prison in El Salvador and Illegally Immigrated to D.C. Suburbs

Thursday, May 14, 2009
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer


Joel Ventura-Quintanilla, an illegal alien who escaped an El Salvador prison, was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of a 15-year-old teen. (Photo courtesy of Montgomery County Police)


(CNSNews.com) – One of the nine people charged in the kidnapping and stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy in Montgomery County, Md., is an illegal immigrant who escaped a prison in El Salvador where he was jailed for homicide and gun trafficking, according to the Montgomery County Police Department.


30-year-old Ysaud Flores is charged in the death of 15-year-old Dennys Alfredo Guzman-Saenz (Photo courtesy of Montgomery County Police)


Police believe Joel Ventura-Quintanilla and the other suspects were members of the violent 18th Street Gang, which has ties to drug cartels in Mexico and Columbia. The victim, Dennys Alfredo Guzman-Saenz, was believed to have a relative involved in the rival MS-13 gang but was not believed to be involved himself, police said.

Lucille Baur, deputy director of Police Media Services, told CNSNews.com that county policy prohibits officers from seeking immigration status of individuals but that in this case Ventura-Quintanilla, 22, told police about his prison escape during interrogation.


18-year-old Ana Abarca is charged in the death of 15-year-old Dennys Alfredo Guzman-Saenz (Photo courtesy of Montgomery County Police)


“It just happened that in this particular case that information regarding one of our suspects is included in his charging documents because during the interview process, he provided information to detectives,â€