An MS-13 gang member was convicted in the horrific torture murder of a 15-year-old girl in Maryland and has been sentenced to 33 years behind bars.
Wilmer Sanchez Serrano, 21, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Tuesday in the death of 15-year-old Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas who was found dead earlier this year in Virginia.
Hours later he was sentenced to serve 33 years in prison for the heinous crime.
The shocking attack on the teen girl was recorded on video that left the jury stunned to see her being stabbed and tortured when it was played during the trial.
Serrano, who was also convicted of abduction and gang participation, also cried when seeing the video along with the girl’s family members, NBC Washington reported.
Guilty: Wilmer Sanchez Serrano (left), 21, was found guilty of second-degree murder on Tuesday in the death of 15-year-old Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas (right). Hours later he was sentenced to serve 33 years in prison for her torture death
The 21-year-old admitted in court on Monday to stabbing the teenage girl, but claimed that he didn’t want to and was forced by MS-13 members.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said: ‘He purposefully impaled her with that stick over and over and over and over. This was not someone who was forced into participating.’
His defense attorney said: ‘He’s guilty of murder, but not first degree. Acting out of fear and panic is not first-degree murder.’
The 15-year-old girl had been reported missing for two months from Gaithersburg before her body was discovered near an industrial park in Fairfax County, Virginia in February.
The shocking attack on the teen girl was recorded on video that left the jury stunned to see her being stabbed and tortured when it was played during the trial. Serrano, who was also convicted of abduction and gang participation, also cried when seeing the video
She told her mother that she was being threatened by gang members at school.
Authorities believed that she was killed to avenge the death of Christian Sosa Rivas, who was found dead along the Potomac River on January 12.
Reyes Rivas was one of the last people to see him alive, according to search warrants.
It’s suggested in court documents that the girl might have been blamed for helping to lure Sosa Rivas to his murders.
Serrano is among 10 to have been charged in Reyes Rivas’ death, including Sosa Rivas’ girlfriend, Venus Romero Irahete.
Authorities suspect that Irahete was the chief attacker and say she wanted revenge.
Reyes Rivas was picked up in a car and driven to Lake Accotink in Springfield, Virginia, police said.
The girl was forced to stand in snow without her shirt or shoes while the group interrogated her about Sosa Rivas’ death before assaulting her.
Aldair Miranda Carcamo (left), 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of abduction by force and gang participation. Cindy Blanco Hernandez (center), 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of abduction by force and the abduction of another juvenile female.
Iraheta told police that she stabbed Reyes Rivas 13 times and sliced off a tattoo, according to testimony in the case.
‘She told the victim she would never forgive her,’ FBI Agent Fernando Uribe said.
‘She would see her in hell. She would never forget her name.’
Last month, three of the suspects in Reyes Rivas’ death pleaded guilty.
Cindy Blanco Hernandez, 19, pleaded guilty to two counts of abduction by force and the abduction of another juvenile female.
Emerson Fugon Lopez, 17, pleaded guilty to abduction in connection with the teen girl’s death and gang participation.
Aldair Miranda Carcamo, 18, pleaded guilty to two counts of abduction by force and gang participation.
The trio will be sentence don May 5.
Four others, including Iraheta, will have trials for the girl’s death in the next few months.