By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 10, 2008

A Prince George's County jury convicted a member of the violent street gang MS-13 yesterday in the July slaying of a young man in Riverdale Park.

Prosecutors in the office of State's Attorney Glenn F. Ivey alleged that Mario Rodriguez-Gutierrez, 19, fatally shot a stranger to make a name for himself and for his gang. The victim, Francisco Quintanilla, also 19, was not in a gang, authorities said.

Rodriguez-Gutierrez, of Hyattsville, shouted his allegiance to MS-13 as the attack unfolded and did not care whom he shot, Assistant State's Attorney William D. Moomau said Monday in his opening statement.

The jury convicted Rodriguez-Gutierrez of first-degree murder and use of a handgun in a felony. Including yesterday's verdict, county prosecutors have obtained seven convictions of MS-13 members in the past three years for murder and other violent offenses, said Ramon Korionoff, Ivey's spokesman.

"The verdict today was an important verdict to stem the violence perpetrated by MS-13," Ivey said in a statement.

A phone call late yesterday seeking comment from defense attorney Alan D'Appolito was not immediately returned.

On July 14, prosecutors alleged, Rodriguez-Gutierrez was riding in the front passenger seat of a Honda that pulled up to a group of people milling outside in the 5300 block of Riverdale Road.

When Rodriguez-Gutierrez cried out his loyalty to MS-13, "words of resistance" were shouted back, which the gang member took as derogatory, Moomau said. Rodriguez-Gutierrez opened fire with a handgun, he said.

Quintanilla was shot twice in the left forearm, once in the leg and once in the head. A female friend cradled Quintanilla as he died, Moomau said.

Witnesses at the scene feared retaliation and were initially reluctant to help police, Moomau said.

Felipe Ordoño, then a county gang detective, played a key role in finding Rodriguez-Gutierrez, Moomau said. Nearly two months after the slaying, the girl who was with Quintanilla when he died picked Rodriguez-Gutierrez from a photo array, he said.

In his opening statement, D'Appolito questioned the credibility of prosecution witnesses, suggesting in particular that the girl was motivated by reward money.

Circuit Court Judge Ronald D. Schiff scheduled sentencing for May 29.