Suspected MS-13 gang members indicted in Richmond

By: Reed Williams | Times-Dispatch
Published: February 06, 2012

A grand jury today indicted five suspected MS-13 gang members on more than three dozen charges in connection with a vicious stabbing of a 21-year-old man in Richmond.

Each of the suspects in the Jan. 14 stabbing in South Richmond was indicted on at least one charge of gang participation and one or more wounding charges.

One of the suspects, Jose A. Bran, 28, faces an additional charge of solicitation to commit murder. Prosecutor Ann Cabell Baskervill said last week at a bond hearing that Bran had ordered a hit on the stabbing victim.

All of the suspects now face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder in the case.

Authorities have identified the five suspects as Bran, 28, of the 3400 block of Meadowdale Boulevard in Chesterfield County; Marvin E. Coreas-DeLeon, 23, of the 3500 block of Old Creek Road in Chesterfield; Justin M. Amador, 22, of the 8600 block of Windingrun Lane, also in Chesterfield; Mario A. Molina, 23, of the 1700 block of Tifton Court in South Richmond; and Giovanny A. Torres, 22, of the 2900 block of Jefferson Davis Highway, also in South Richmond.

Police said the stabbing case highlights an emerging presence in the Richmond area of MS-13 that has raised concern among law enforcement officials as they investigate several violent incidents, including the stabbing. MS-13 is a national street gang with a reputation for violence.

The Jan. 14 stabbing occurred after the 21-year-old victim was abducted in the area of Jefferson Davis Highway and Terminal Avenue, stabbed as many as seven times by multiple assailants inside a vehicle and left behind in the 3800 block of Terminal Avenue, police said. The victim was treated and released from VCU Medical Center.

(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)