MS-13 Gang Member Murdered Eight People Including Teen Girls, Merrick Garland Stopped Death Sentence

Posted • July 11, 2024: MS-13 Gang Member Pleads Guilty To Murdering 8 People Including Teen Girls, Prosecutors Wanted The Death Sentence, Merrick Garland Stopped Them 一 High-ranking MS-13 member pleads guilty to charges in a case involving eight murders, including those of teen girls in 2016. Alexi Saenz, 29, pleaded guilty to racketeering and firearms charges in federal court in Central Islip. Saenz also pleaded guilty to charges related to the brutal killings of two teenage girls, Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, in September 2016 in Brentwood. Prosecutors say Saenz and his brother Jairo hunted down the best friends, attacking them with machetes and baseball bats.

Federal prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty in 2020 but were told to back off by Attorney General Merrick Garland in 2023. Saenz also pleaded guilty to the murders of Michael Johnson (January 28, 2016), Oscar Acosta (April 29, 2016), Marcus Bohannon (September 5, 2016), Javier Castillo (October 10, 2016), Dewann Stacks (October 13, 2016), and Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla (January 30, 2017). He is also implicated in three attempted murders, arson, narcotics trafficking, and firearms offenses.