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Silver Spring native Jonathan Leon-Chacon, 28, was sentenced to 75 years in prison for his role in a deadly late-night meetup that led to the death of 19-year-old Willians Anderson Alberto Cruz in 2022, the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office announced on Monday, March 23.
The shooting happened around 3:58 a.m. on Nov. 9, 2022, on Colony Road, where four victims had gathered near a car, listening to music.
According to charging documents, Leon-Chacon drove three other men to the apartment complex and parked nearby as the group watched the victims arrive. When Cruz and another victim pulled into the lot, the passengers in Leon-Chacon’s vehicle took notice and asked to be let out.
Leon-Chacon drove away and waited.
Moments later, gunfire erupted.
Cruz was killed at the scene, while two others were struck multiple times and survived. A fourth victim was uninjured.
Investigators later determined the victims were not connected to the suspects and had been targeted by mistake.
Prosecutors said the shooting was tied to MS-13 retaliation over defaced gang graffiti in a wooded area near the parking lot.
Leon-Chacon later admitted he believed what was about to happen.
“Leon-Chacon said that the moment Calle and Azul exited the vehicle, that's what he imagined they were going to do,” according to charging documents.
After the shooting, he contacted one of the suspects and was told not to return because the area was “hot,” investigators said.
Phone records later showed the group reconnecting and traveling north toward Baltimore.
Leon-Chacon pleaded guilty to:
- Second-degree murder;
- Attempted second-degree murder;
- Use of a firearm in the commission of a felony;
- Participation in a criminal organization resulting in death.
He is the fourth person to be convicted and sentenced in the case.
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