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MS-13 Female Teen Tortured And Killed 15-Year-Old Gang Member Over A Love Rivalry, Virginia Police Say

By Tara Dodrill
Published on: 05:10 PST, May 12, 2017

MS-13 gang member, Venus Romero Iraheta, 17, is accused of torturing and then brutally killing another female gang member. The 15-year-old murder victim, Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas, and Iraheta were reportedly embroiled in a love triangle involving alleged fellow drug gang member, Christian Sosa Rivas.

Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas was stabbed 13 times after allegedly being forced to stand in freezing water. During the attack, Iraheta sliced a tattoo off Rivas, prosecutors say.

Both reputed MS-13 gang members were believed to have been lovers of Christian Sosa Rivas, who was killed several days before the 15-year-old girl. He was reportedly an aspiring leader of the Virginia chapter of the violent drug gang. The victim reportedly got the tattoo as a symbol of the relationship she was in with the missing gang member.

Venus Romero Iraheta believed Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas was to blame for the murder of Christian Sosa Rivas, Virginia police investigators say.

“See you in hell,” Iraheta allegedly said to Rivas while stabbing her fellow female MS-13 gang member.

Virginia prosecutors told the court Venus Romero Iraheta was the primary attacker during the gruesome slaying of Damaris Rivas, but say others were involved as well. The 15-year-old gang member suffered through intense abuse before finally dying from her multiple stab wounds, according to FBI Special Agent Fernando Uribe.

Agent Uribe stated during his court testimony that another member of the Virginia MS-13 gang called Damaris on the phone and said she was coming to pick her up to go smoke marijuana, the Washington Post reports.

When the car arrived, it was instead allegedly driven by Jose Castillo Rivas. He has also been charged in connection with Damaris’ murder. She was reportedly driven to Lake Accotink Park. The park is located in a secluded and fairly abandoned section of Springfield.

Once Damaris Rivas arrived at what would become the site of her own murder, Iraheta quizzed her about Christian’s possible whereabouts and their rumored relationship. The 15-year-old MS-13 gang member was then reportedly forced to remove both her shirt and her shoes and stand in the cold water and snow so she could “feel as much pain as Christian.”

The FBI agent also stated that Damaris Rivas admitted to having a sexual relationship with the then still missing Christian Rivas. The teenage drug gang member allegedly urged her attackers to call another MS-13 member to get more details about the possible location of the missing man.

“Venus told her she would never forgive her and told her she would see her in hell,” Agent Uribe added. “She would never forget her name.”

Virginia police investigators believe some fellow MS-13 gang member shot a video of the final moments of Damaris Rivas’ life. Ten gang members have been charged in connection with the killing. Iraheta and four other gang members have been charged with murder in the case.

During the trial on Thursday, Venus Romero Iraheta sat silently while listening to prosecutors describe the brutality of the attack and murder, the Daily Mail reports.

Maria Reyes, the mother of the murdered MS-13 gang member, was spotted frequently wiping tears from her eyes while listening to the same set of facts about the torture and murder of her daughter.

The mother did not speak with reporters after the hearing, but the woman had previously stated she moved to America to escape the violence in her own country. She described Damaris as a “truly sweet” girl.

“I didn’t know people like that existed in the United States,” Reyes said. “I thought it was super safe to have my daughter here with me.”

The hearing, which took place on Thursday, was held to determine whether or not Venus Iraheta should be tried as an adult.

https://youtu.be/fmVaFWNTwzw

The body of Christian Rivas eventually washed up along the shore of the Potomac River near Dumfries, Virginia. The MS-13 member’s death is being investigated as a homicide with the likely motive noted as a power struggle going on within the gang.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, MS-13 has been linked to a growing number of murders in the United States. There have been 18 arrests on homicide charges in the Washington, D.C. area alone. The violent gang has also been connected to the recent murders of two Long Island teenagers, and the kidnapping and execution of another teenager in Houston.

MS-13 was the first street gang to be classified as an international criminal group. There are an estimated 20,000 gang members now operating in 46 states. Major crimes MS-13 members have been accused or convicted of include murder, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, murder, and drug trafficking.

As a result of Operation Fed Up, which focused upon the MS-13 gang, a total of 53 members have been arrested in Charlotte, North Carolina. Last year Operation Mean Streets netted a total of 58 MS-13 gang members who were tried on various charges.

Two of the most high-profile and shocking killings linked to MS-13 included the fatal stabbing of a federal witness in 2004 and a case in which a 16-year-old boy had his hands chopped off in 2005.

https://youtu.be/Av_PBuzYvts

The vast majority of MS-13 gang members are believed to be either legal or illegal immigrants. United States Border Patrol agents first began noticing the presence of gang members among illegal immigrants three years ago. The agents found Mara Salvatrucha graffiti scrawled on walls at detention centers created to house the waves of unaccompanied children who crossed the Mexican border into America.

U.S. Border Patrol Council official Chris Cabrera believes illegal immigrants belonging to MS-13 are reuniting with their peers in America once they either cross the border or are permitted to leave detention centers.

“I’ve heard people come in and say, ‘You’re going to let me go, just like you let my mother go, just like you let my sister go. You’re going to let me go as well, and the government’s going to take care of us. Until we start mandatory detentions, mandatory removals, I don’t think anything is going to change. As a matter of fact, I think it’s going to get worse,” Cabrera continued.

What do you think about the increase of known MS-13 gang members in the United States?

[Featured Image by Esteban Felix/AP Images]

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