Garcia, A NY Mara Salvatrucha Gang Member Wanted For Two Homicides Surrenders

Juan Elias Garcia, Vanessa Argueta and Diego Torres

Garcia surrendered to U.S. Embassy in Managua and agreed to voluntarily return to the U.S.

By H. Nelson Goodson

March 29, 2014

Managua, Nicaragua - On Friday, Juan Elias Garcia, 21, aka, "Cruzito" was taken into custody after he voluntarily surrendered to U.S. Embassy authorities in Managua and agreed to return to the U.S. to face several charges for murder. Garcia was placed of the FBI's ten most wanted list on March 26, 2014 for the execution style murders of his girlfriend Vanessa Argueta, 19, and her son, Diego Torres, 2, on February 4, 2010 in Central Islip, New York. Garcia arrived in New York on Friday.

The FBI says, that Garcia, a Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang member was dating Argueta and later became his girlfriend. Both Arguate and Garcia had an argument and Arguata told some friends from the Latin Kings and the 18th Street gangs about their falling out. The rival gang members threatened Garcia.

The FBI reported, that when Garcia explained to fellow MS-13 members Adalberto Ariel Guzman and Rene Mendez Mejia that he had been threatened by members of the rival gang as a result of information he believed Argueta had provided, they obtained permission from their leader, Heriberto Martinez, to retaliate against Argueta. On February 4, 2010, rather than go to dinner as planned, Garcia drove Argueta and Torres to a wooded area in Central Islip, New York. Once they were in the woods, Garcia shot Argueta in the chest, and Mejia shot Argueta in the head with a .22 caliber handgun, as Torres watched. They then turned the gun over to Guzman, who shot 2-year-old Torres twice in the head. But the first shot dropped Torres to the ground and he got up again and held his mother's leg when he was fatally shot again. On February 5, 2010, the bodies of Argueta and her son were found in a wooded area in Central Islip, New York.

Garcia will appear before an Eastern District New York judge on Monday, March 31, to face homicide charges.

A $100,000 dollar reward had been offered for information leading to Garcia's arrest. Garcia was born in Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador. When Garcia's FBI wanted profile and reward aired in Managua's TV news networks, Garcia decided to walk into the U.S. Embassy and surrender, according to the FBI.