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Jose Morales-Arriola will serve 21 years in jail in connection with the 2018 killing of a Chesapeake man, said the commonwealth's attorney for Virginia Beach. The Fairfax County Police Department aided in the investigation that led to this conviction.
Morales-Arriola said an MS-13 leader ordered him to murder 19-year-old Jairo Guardado because they believed the teen was a member of a rival gang, a press release about the conviction said. Morales-Arriola and other gang members lured Guardado to Lake Smith on July 6, 2018, under the pretense of fishing, drinking, and smoking marijuana. Morales-Arriola executed Guardado and took a photo of his corpse to send as proof to MS-13 leaders, the release continues.
Morales-Arriola told prosecutors that the MS-13 leader who ordered the execution threatened to kill him and the others involved if they failed or spoke of the killing.
Two kayakers found Guardado's body floating near the shoreline of the lake the next day. Investigators linked it to gang activity through his cell phone records. Though they found no evidence that the teenager was linked to any other gangs, the release said.
Morales-Arriola pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and participation in a criminal act for the benefit or at the direction of a gang, prosecutors said.
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