One night in September 2016, two teenage girls were walking down a street in the Long Island hamlet of Brentwood when they were spotted by four members of MS-13, a violent transnational gang with Salvadoran roots.
Federal prosecutors said the MS-13 members had set out that evening in a car looking for rival gang members to kill.
When they saw Kayla Cuevas, 16, prosecutors added, they recognized her as someone their gang had designated for death after a series of disputes with MS-13 members on social media and at school.
They gave the order to kill Kayla and her 15-year-old friend, Nisa Mickens, prosecutors said.
One of the gang members in the car, Enrique Portillo, 19, and two younger members then attacked and killed the girls with baseball bats and a machete, prosecutors said.
Persons:
Kayla Cuevas, Alexi Saenz, Kayla, Nisa Mickens, Enrique Portillo, Timothy Sini, Portillo
Organizations:
Suffolk County Police
Locations:
Long, Brentwood, Suffolk