An MS-13 gang member, who was in the United States illegally, will spend 50 years behind bars for the murder of a 14-year-old Maryland girl.
Josue Fuentes-Ponce, 17, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in October, after he and three of his fellow gang members lured Ariana Funes-Diaz into a tunnel and killed her with a machete and a baseball bat in April 2019. The gang tossed Fune-Diaz’s body in a river, where she was not recovered until more than a month after her death. The attack was so brutal, authorities could only identify the 14-year-old by a tattoo on her hand.
A judge sentenced Fuentes-Ponce to 50 years in prison. His attorneys had asked for leniency because the 17-year-old had the cognitive level of a 9-year-old during the attack, but the judge went forward with the five-decade sentence.
Sentences for the other gang members have not been set. Joel Escobar, 18, will be sentenced in late February. Edwin Rios, 19, still faces trial, and an unnamed 14-year-old girl’s trial details have not been disclosed because it took place in the juvenile court system.
At the time of Fuentes-Ponce’s arrest, ICE’s Baltimore Field Office Director Diane Witte blamed sanctuary city policies in Maryland for Funes-Diaz’s death because the gang members responsible for the attack had violent records and could have been held on ICE detainers.
Witte told the Washington Examiner, “These individuals had demonstrated violent criminal behavior before, and because they were released in spite of the lawful detainer, they were afforded an opportunity to take a life.”
President Trump has been critical of sanctuary policies and has campaigned with several “angel moms” who have lost children due to crimes committed by illegal immigrants. He called members of MS-13 “animals” for their documented history of brutal attacks.
