WASHINGTON 鈥� The teenager who disappeared for a month last year, only to be charged with a brutal gang-related murder on her return, was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday.
Venus Iraheta, 18, of Alexandria, pleaded guilty in January to charges of first-degree murder, abduction and gang participation in the death of Damaris Reyes Rivas, 15, last year. She faced a maximum sentence of life in prison on the murder charge, 10 years each on the others.
Iraheta was 17 when she disappeared for a month in January 2017. Her return was captured live in February of that year while her mother was being interviewed by 海角社区app鈥檚 news partner, .
By the next morning, she was one of 10 people ultimately charged in connection with the death of Rivas, of Gaithersburg, Maryland. Her body was found near Lake Accotink Park, in Springfield, Virginia, in February 2017; the police said at the time that they believed she鈥檇 been killed in January.
Iraheta confessed last January to stabbing Rivas several times, saying Rivas was targeted because the group thought she had lured Christian Sosa Rivas, an MS-13 clique leader and Iraheta鈥檚 boyfriend, to his death.
Sosa Rivas鈥� body was found in the Potomac River near Dumfries earlier that month. Six people were arrested in his death.
In a statement and an interview with 海角社区app in January, Fairfax County Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney Ray Morrogh laid out the details of the murder:
Reyes Rivas had run away from home; her mother reported her missing Dec. 10, 2016. On Jan. 8, 2017, one of the other defendants, Jose Castillo Rivas, whom prosecutors said Reyes Rivas knew, picked her up and brought her to Lake Accotink Park, in Springfield, Virginia. The rest of the 10 defendants were waiting.
Prosecutors said Iraheta hit Reyes Rivas in the face, knocking her down. Video from Iraheta鈥檚 cellphone shows the gang members demanding information about Sosa Rivas鈥� death, prosecutors said, as well as another defendant, Jose Torres Cerrato, 鈥渢elling the group they have to torture her first because she had to tell them everything.鈥�
Iraheta told Reyes Rivas 鈥渟he was going to die that day,鈥� Morrogh said in the statement, and the group forced Reyes Rivas to stand in snow without her shoes or shirt in order to feel the same cold Sosa Rivas did when his body was dumped in the Potomac River, while they demanded information about Sosa Rivas鈥� death.
They then brought her back into Castillo Rivas鈥� vehicle, to take Reyes Rivas to another location nearby. After they got there, the entire group attacked her.
Iraheta demanded to know whether she had slept with Sosa Rivas, Morrogh said in the statement. Also, Iraheta cut a tattoo he had given Reyes Rivas off her hand, told her she would 鈥渟ee her in hell,鈥� and stabbed her in the neck and chest several times, Morrogh said in the statement. Others stabbed her as well, and the video was then sent to MS-13 leadership in El Salvador 鈥渇or promotions within the ranks of the gang.鈥�
‘My heart’s with them’
After the sentencing, Morrogh said he was 鈥渟atisfied鈥� with what he described as 鈥渁 substantial sentence,鈥� saying Iraheta鈥檚 youth made a sentence of less than life 鈥渁ppropriate.鈥�
He hoped the sentence would have an effect, though: 鈥淚 typically don鈥檛 argue to send a message in criminal cases; I focus on the individual defendant,鈥� Morrogh said. But he wanted gangs and potential gang members to get the message that 鈥淚f you commit a crime like this in Northern Virginia, we鈥檙e gonna come after you hard and pursue severe sentences.鈥�
Morrogh said that Rivas’s mother told the court her family was destroyed.聽鈥淚 hope time will grant them some peace. … My heart鈥檚 with them always.鈥�
He went on to say she had聽鈥渁 strong faith in God and called her “a great woman. She鈥檚 really hard-working … 99.9 percent of folks who come up from Central America come here for a better life. She worked hard to support her family 鈥� I鈥檓 proud to know her.鈥�
Iraheta was remorseful in court, tearfully telling Reyes Rivas鈥� family that the murder was the biggest mistake of her life, but Morrogh pointed to her lack of remorse at the time she confessed and the fact that 鈥渟he left the body outside for over a month鈥� while Rivas鈥檚 mother was looking for her. 鈥淚 thought that was callous. …
鈥淚 recognize she鈥檚 a teenager and I factor that in, but this crime is so bad that it鈥檚 difficult to have any sympathy for her in that moment.鈥�
That said, the prosecutor said聽鈥淭here鈥檚 no joy in something like this; there鈥檚 no winners.”
“You鈥檝e got a 15-year-old girl dead and we鈥檝e got [an 18-year-old] on her way to the penitentiary. And the defendant鈥檚 mother didn鈥檛 do anything wrong; she鈥檚 another hard-working immigrant who came here for a better life. 鈥� There鈥檚 no joy in it.” Referring to the sentence, he said, “I didn鈥檛 like to do it.鈥�
海角社区app’s Neal Augenstein contributed to this report.
