Police have identified the victim of a fatal Christmas Eve stabbing in East Boston as a teen from Central America.
Boston Police responded to a call for a body near Boston Logan International Airport around 10:45 p.m. Saturday and found a victim who appeared to be in his late teens suffering from apparent stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The stabbing victim was identified Wednesday as 18-year-old Luis Fernando Orellano Ruano of Central America. His death remains under investigation.
He is one of five teens found dead in East Boston in the last 15 months and the second this month. Back on Dec. 9, the partially-decomposed body of a teen was found in the Belle Isle Marsh.
Boston Police Commissioner William Evans told the Boston Herald that his department is investigating whether those deaths may be gang related.
U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz had previously said that the first three killings were committed by members of the MS-13 gang.
Last January, federal authorites charged 56 leaders, members and associates of the violent gang in a series of overnight raids in the Boston area. The gang is notoriously violent and known for using machetes to kill victims.
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According to court documents, in 2012, MS-13 became the first and remains the only street gang to be designated by the U.S. government as a "transnational criminal organization." It has over 6,000 members in the U.S. and over 30,000 members internationally, mainly in El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala.
MS-13 is known for targeting middle and high school age students to commit violent acts on behalf of the gang, knowing they'll face less severe penalties because of their age.
Community activist Peter Rogers said people in the area are tired of the violence.
"A lot of folks are just sick and tired of having to deal with this and we want to do something because we don't want to lose anymore of our youth here," Rogers said.
Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes released a statement saying federal prosecutors are continuing their investigation of MS-13 in the greater Boston area:
"At the expense of not comprising the integrity of any ongoing investigations we continue to keep a close watchful eye on the pulse of any and all gang activity both in the city of Chelsea as well as in the general region. Overall since the two large scale federal/state/local operations that specifically targeted gang violence in 2016 we have seen a significant decrease in violent crime - down 10% from 2015 levels. That said we continue to be very proactive and follow up on all leads and work all gang related cases very thoroughly to stay in front of any possible retaliation that can develop from time to time. We are working to do our best to get these young men on the right track and out of this dangerous lifestyle which puts them at elevated levels of risk."
