Rene Mendez Mejia, Double Murder, New York 2010

Rene Mendez Mejia, also known as ‘Zorro,’ was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his role in the brutal murders of a 19-year-old woman and her two-year-old son in Central Islip, NY.

On February 5, 2010, Mejia and two other MS-13 members, Adalberto Ariel Guzman and Juan Garcia, shot and killed Vanessa Argueta and her son Diego Torres in a secluded wooded area. Mejia and Garcia shot Argueta in the head and chest, respectively, while Guzman shot Torres twice in the head.

The motive behind the murders was that Argueta had disrespected the MS-13 by sending rival gang members to attack Garcia. Mejia and his co-conspirators fled to El Salvador after the murders, but were later arrested when they returned to the US in May 2010.

Garcia remained a fugitive for four years until March 2014, when he surrendered to law enforcement authorities in Nicaragua and was returned to the US for prosecution. Mejia pled guilty on June 15, 2011, and was sentenced to 45 years in prison by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco.

The convictions of Mejia and his co-conspirators are a testament to the ruthless and senseless violence committed by MS-13 gang members. Mejia’s co-conspirators, Heriberto Martinez, Guzman, and Garcia, were also arrested and indicted in connection with the murders.

Mejia’s sentence brings some measure of justice to the victims’ families, but the pain and trauma caused by the brutal murders will likely never be fully erased. The FBI, Suffolk County Police Department, and US Attorney’s Office have worked tirelessly to bring Mejia and his co-conspirators to justice.

The sentencing was announced by Robert L. Capers, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Diego Rodriguez, Assistant Director-in-Charge, FBI, New York Field Office, and Timothy Sini, Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department.

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