Three alleged MS-13 members have been charge with murder, racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking in connection with the death last year of a homeless Maryland man, acccording to the Justice Department.

“The brutal retaliatory murder of this victim is a chilling reminder of the MS-13 gang’s callous disregard for human life,” U.S. Attorney Kelly O. Hayes for the District of Maryland said last week in announcing the charges.

He also said the killing was in exchange for drugs and promotions within the gang.

La Mara Salvatrucha, MS-13, is an international criminal gang formed by Salvadoran immigrants in Los Angeles during the 1980s.

Last July, Maxwell Ariel Quijano-Casco, 24 and Daniel Isaias Villanueva-Bautista, 19, of El Salvador; and Josue Mauricio Lainez, 21, of Hyattsville, Maryland, allegedly killed a homeless man as part of an act with MS-13, according to court documents.

A passerby called 911 after seeing the victim sitting in a parked van, according to court documents. After responding to the call, police found the deceased man who appeared to have been stabbed in the neck.

Video surveillance shows the incident starting at about 11:30 p.m. on July 4, 2024, when the victim is seen wielding what looks like a metal pole at Quijano-Casco and another person outside the van, in the city of Hyattville.

About 15 minutes later, Quijano-Casco returns with co-defendants Villanueva-Bautista, Lainez, and another person. At approximately 11:48 p.m., video surveillance shows all four of them approaching the blue Dodge Caravan, according to the DOJ.

It's unclear whether the fourth person has been identified or charged in connection with the incident. 

The suspects were arrested a month later, according to the DOJ. At the time of the arrest, Quijano-Casco possessed a handgun and about eight grams of cocaine. He allegedly admitted to stabbing the homeless man.

The case is a part of the FBI’s Operation Summer Heat, to target nationwide violent crime this summer.

If convicted, the three men will face a maximum penalty of life in prison.