MS-13 Member Sentenced to 39.5 Years for ‘Crazy Revenge Plan in America’

By Sofia Feigelson - July 15, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

On July 12, a MS-13 member was sentenced by DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan to 39.5 years in prison for the murder of the man he believed killed his father.

Oscar Ramos, 34, was originally charged with first-degree murder while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for the fatal shooting of 50-year-old Pedro Melendez Alvarado. He was also charged with assault with intent to kill while armed and possession of a firearm during a crime of violence for firing at Alvarado’s brother-in-law and injuring him. The crime occurred on May 28, 2015, on Interstate 295 North at Exit One in Southwest DC. 

On April 8, after a day-and-a-half of deliberations, a jury convicted Ramos of first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. He was acquitted of the two possession of a firearm charges.

At the sentencing, a Spanish interpreter was present for Ramos. The defendant holds his citizenship in El Salvador and is also a member of the international criminal gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), according to the prosecution.

As per the prosecution, on the day of the incident, Alvarado, his 12-year-old son, and his brother-in-law left their homes in Alexandria, Va. to drop Alvarado’s son off at school and proceed to work.

During this time, three people, including Ramos, were in a car that followed Alvarado, according to the prosecution.

When Alvarado and his brother-in-law were heading to work on I-295, Ramos fired at both of them.

The prosecution stated that the brother-in-law was able to recover from the shooting, but had died last year for unrelated reasons.

Ramos wanted to “hunt [Alvarado] down” and murder him because he believed that his father was killed by Alvarado in El Salvador, stated the prosecution. “[Alvarado] is not a killer, not a murderer,” asserted the prosecution.

Ramos’ belief was completely false, the prosecutor said, adding that “dedicated” investigators and detectives, some of whom traveled to El Salvador, could not find any valid evidence to believe Alvarado had anything to do with Ramos’ father’s murder.

As a part of Ramos’ plan, the prosecution stated, Ramos contacted Alvarado through social media, pretending to be a woman. “[Alvarado] had a weakness. He had an eye for the ladies,” said the prosecution.

Additionally, the prosecution stated that Ramos was an “undocumented foreign national” who had “openly bragged” about previous murders he had participated in.

According to the prosecution, Ramos was removed from the United States in 2018 but came back in 2021, which is when he was charged with the shooting.

Ramos had a “crazy revenge plan in America” and “had no care, no remorse for [the victims],” stated the prosecution.

“Our lives were changed forever,” wrote Alvarado’s sister. She acknowledged the “psychological damage” and “pain and permanent trauma” she has experienced in the aftermath of losing her brother.

Alvarado’s wife said she has experienced psychological, physical, and emotional effects as a result of the shooting.

Alvarado’s son, who is now grown with a child of his own, said, “I have been plagued with questions.” The son said he lost his father almost nine years ago as a 12-year-old boy. He expressed his disappointment in his father never being able to meet his son.

Following the victims’ impact statements, defense attorney Rachel McCoy argued for Ramos to serve the minimum sentence of 30 years in prison, stating that Ramos has a “fundamental right to hope that he will be able to get out of jail at some point.”

McCoy stated that Ramos maintains his innocence and will be appealing the case.

She also added that Ramos has not received any disciplinary infractions and has taken advantage of the DC Jail’s programs, despite his language barrier.

McCoy ended her argument by requesting Judge Raffinan to run Ramos’ sentences concurrently, as opposed to consecutively.

After both parties’ arguments, Judge Raffinan went through the facts of the case, stating “through a scheme and plan,” Ramos was able to discover Alvarado’s location by “lur[ing] him through social media.”

“[Ramos] was able to follow and track him down,” Judge Raffinan continued, highlighting that the shooting occurred as Ramos’ car pulled alongside Alvarado’s while on the highway.

Judge Raffinan also stated that a jury found the prosecution had sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Ramos committed the shooting, referring to social media evidence that would alert Ramos of “where [Alvarado] would be at [the] date and time” of the shooting.

Before sentencing Ramos, Judge Raffinan expressed her sympathies to Alvarado’s family.

Judge Raffinan sentenced Ramos to 30 years for first-degree murder while armed and nine-and-a-half years for assault with intent to kill while armed. The sentences are set to run consecutively.

Upon his release, Ramos will also be under supervised release for five years.

“[The] conduct in this case was planned” and “was brazen in that it took place on a highway in broad daylight,” concluded Judge Raffinan.

Ramos asserted his right to remain silent during the hearing.

No further dates were set.