Manassas Journal Messenger | Grand jury gets shooting case

A Stafford General District Judge certified a total of 12 felony charges to the November grand jury Friday against two Woodbridge men accused in a gang-related shooting death.

Jose “Little Blue” Santos Portillo-Chicas, 31, and Luis “Crimen” Antonio Serrano-Gutierrez, 19, appeared in court Friday for preliminary hearings for the first-degree murder of Shannah Marie Angeles that occurred in July.

Dale City resident Edward “Spunky” Amberly Perez, 19, is also charged in the murder plot and waived his right to a preliminary hearing Friday. His charges, including murder and abduction, were sent to the November grand jury.

In a preliminary hearing, the commonwealth must prove there is probable cause to pursue the charges for trial in Circuit Court.

All three are alleged members of the MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, a Salvadoran street gang.

Angeles, 21, whose body was found in a remote area of northern Stafford County, was abducted at gunpoint from Alexandria in July and shot to death, police said, because she was believed to be a member of a rival gang.

Stafford General District Judge Gordon Willis certified charges of first-degree murder, use of a firearm, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, conspiracy to abduct, abduction and criminal gang participation to the November grand jury for Portillo-Chicas.

Willis also certified charges of criminal gang participation, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, use of a firearm, abduction, first-degree murder and conspiracy to abduct to the November grand jury for Serrano-Gutierrez.

If the grand jury decides the charges have merit to go to trial, Circuit Court trial dates will be set for Portillo-Chicas and Serrano-Gutierrez.

Perez testified Friday through an interpreter that Serrano-Gutierrez picked him up from work July 18 and was asking around for a gun.

The pair picked up Portillo-Chicas, who had a gun, Perez said, and traveled to Alexandria.

Perez said Portillo-Chicas and Serrano-Gutierrez were talking then about a girl from another gang being at an apartment in Alexandria and that they were going to “pick her up and kill her.”

Perez said they met another alleged gang member, Henry “Droopy” Mejivar, 17, at the Alexandria apartment where Angeles was, picked them both up and told Angeles they were taking her to a party.

Perez said they traveled to Stafford because Portillo-Chicas said he knew the area.

Perez said when they parked the car, Serrano-Gutierrez and Portillo-Chicas told Angeles they were “going to have sex,” and led her out of the vehicle into the woods. He said she initially appeared to walk out with the pair willingly.

After a few minutes passed, Perez said he heard a series of shots and Angeles scream. A few minutes later, the pair returned to the vehicle to leave, Perez said.

Authorities say Angeles was forced into the woods off Joshua Road and shot multiple times, including at least once in the head.

Stafford County authorities are still searching for Mejivar.

A mother of three, Angeles was visiting from the Chicago area and had been staying in a motel in Northern Virginia, according to authorities.

When her money ran out, she stayed in Alexandria at the home of someone who knew Portillo-Chicas and Mejivar, both of whom she subsequently met.