{"id":1523,"date":"2026-06-08T13:08:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523"},"modified":"2026-06-08T13:08:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:08:26","slug":"ms-13-gang-members-convicted-in-gruesome-angeles-national-forest-murders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523","title":{"rendered":"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p><em>Warning: This story has some disturbing descriptions.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Four members of the MS-13 street gang were convicted this week in three grisly murders, including a dismemberment, carried out in the Angeles National Forest in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1521\">Inman: World Cup fever should hit Bay Area despite lackluster draws<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A federal jury found Angel Amadeo Guzman, 31, and Fernando Garcia Parada, 28, both of Panorama City; Edgard Velasquez, 43, of Reseda; and Jose Jonathan Castillo, 34, of Los Angeles guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and violent crimes in aid of racketeering through murder, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n<p>Prosecutors said the killings were tied to Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, a transnational gang that maintains a presence in Los Angeles through smaller groups, or cliques, including in the San Fernando Valley and around MacArthur Park.<\/p>\n<p>Trial testimony linked the four men to three separate killings between March and June 2017.<\/p>\n<p>In one case, prosecutors said, Velasquez authorized the killing of a man accused of painting the graffiti of a rival gang. Guzman, Garcia, and others kidnapped and strangled him, and drove him to the Angeles National Forest, where he was killed with machetes. Later, his killers dismembered him, carving out his heart and throwing his body parts into a canyon.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1519\">Bay Area events calendar for June 12-18 weekly editions<\/a><\/p>\n<p>A month later, Guzman and co-conspirators killed another victim, whom they suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and who had fled El Salvador. One conspirator used a teenage girl\u2019s Facebook account to catfish him, and he was lured to the forest and killed.<\/p>\n<p>The third victim, described by prosecutors as an associate of the gang, was accused of overstating his status within MS-13. In June 2017, he was taken to the forest, stabbed and \u201chacked to death,\u201d according to a U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office news release.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The defendants remain in federal custody and are scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20. Each faces at least one mandatory sentence of life in prison, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n<p>Federal authorities said the broader investigation has led to more than 30 convictions. Five additional MS-13 members were convicted in November 2025 in a separate trial involving six gang-related killings.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1517\">FIFA\u2019s biggest World Cup may leave host cities with big regrets<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The defendants committed a series of brutal gang-related murders in 2017. Each faces mandatory life prison terms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The defendants committed a series of brutal gang-related murders in 2017. Each faces mandatory life prison terms.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-08T13:08:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T13:08:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523\"},\"wordCount\":378,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523\",\"name\":\"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-08T13:08:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp\",\"width\":735,\"height\":463},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=1523#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders - Next City Digest","og_description":"The defendants committed a series of brutal gang-related murders in 2017. Each faces mandatory life prison terms.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-06-08T13:08:26+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders","datePublished":"2026-06-08T13:08:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523"},"wordCount":378,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523","name":"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-08T13:08:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/f6eb47e647317f5afc9aa97f4a987578.webp","width":735,"height":463},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=1523#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MS-13 gang members convicted in gruesome Angeles National Forest murders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}