HOUSTON – Authorities are looking for a gang member who was accused of her 17 years after the homicide of a young man, and who has ties with members of the Mara Salvatrucha.
The woman is accused of having seduced a young man to hand him over to gang members of the Mara Salvatrucha who had planned to kill him.
Karla Jackelyn Morales admitted in the year 2018 to the authorities that she offered José Alfonso Vilanueva marijuana as a decoy to get him out of his apartment and thus allow a group of MS gang members-13 killed him in a vacant lot near an elementary school in northern Harris County. Morales is now on the run from authorities.
The victim was shot to death with machetes on 29 of July of that year.
According to the Harris County Prosecutor’s Office, Morales removed the electronic shackle he had on his ankle a few days before the start of the trial that was scheduled to begin in October 2021.
Investigators had tried to arrest Morales recently, but are now asking for help from the community to find him.
“She helped plan (Villanueva’s) execution and someone knows where she is hiding,” said Harris County Prosecutor Kim Ogg.
Morales is known for having various aliases, including “Cherry”, “Karlita”, “Missy” and “Foxy”. She is about 5 feet tall with a solid body, she has black hair and brown eyes. She carries with her a tattoo that says “Alice”.
The woman was on probation after paying a bond of $60,000.
Prosecutor Ogg said that she will not ask about the immigration status of anyone who offer information on the whereabouts of Morales, even when the reward payment is made.
According to the investigators, Morales assured that the victim was part of the gang “18 Street”, known by being a rival of the MS-13, and that months before he had had an altercation with a member of the mara salvatrucha, because he made negative comments about the gang group originating from El Salvador.
According to the minor, in her testimony to the authorities, her boyfriend –also a member of the MS-04 and co-worker of the victim – heard that the latter offended Morales verbally.
This would have motivated the members of the gang to decide to kill Villanueva that 29 of July.
That day, after leaving the apartment, Morales and Villanueva got into a truck in which were two MS gang members-13, who led him to the place where they finally killed him.
There they met another group that was waiting for them. The defendant said that she was a witness to the shots that were fired at Villanueva, as well as the machetes that were given to him.
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