17-year-old gets 50 years for MS-13 gang
murder of 14-year-old MD girl

UPPER MARLBORO, MD  –  A 17-year-old MS-13 gang member was sentenced Monday in the beating death of a 14-year-old girl in Riverdale last April.

Josue Fuentes-Ponce of Bladensburg was one of four gang members charged in the murder of Ariana Funes-Diaz of Adelphi.

He entered a guilty plea in October to first degree murder.  He was sentenced to life in prison with all but 50 years suspended.

Prosecutors said that the gang members drove together to an apartment complex in the 6300 block of 64th Avenue in Riverdale on April 18, 2019.

The group then lured Funes-Diaz into a wooded area behind the complex where she was killed.  Police found her body in a creek on May 15, 2019.

She was killed because the others thought that she was going to report them for a crime they committed together in D.C., police said.

Co-defendant, Joel Escobar, 18, entered a guilty plea in November and is scheduled for sentencing on February 26.

A trial is scheduled in April for co-defendant, Edwin Rios, 19.

The charges against a 14-year-old girl were handled in juvenile court.