US News

‘Killer’ gang member added to FBI’s ‘Most Wanted’ list

The FBI on Wednesday added a Salvadoran gang member to its “Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list for his role in the cold-blooded 2010 slayings of his 19-year-old girlfriend and her 2-year-old son on Long Island.

The feds said Juan Elias Garcia, 21, is the last of four members of the notorious MS-13 gang on the loose in the killings of Vanessa Argueta and little Diego Torres in Central Islip.

The feds also announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.

“Garcia’s callous disregard for human life resulted in the senseless murder of a young mother and her helpless 2-year-old son,” said George Venizelos, assistant director of the bureau’s New York office.

“His appointment to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list illustrates not only the seriousness of his crimes but our commitment to seeking justice for his victims.”

Authorities say Argueta had ties to both the 18th Street Gang and the Latin Kings — rival gangs which had threatened Garcia — and that he believed that she had fed them information that led to the threats.

Authorities said Garcia and two other MS-13 thugs got permission from the gang’s leader to take Argueta and her son into the woods and shoot them.

Garcia contacted his girlfriend on Feb. 4, 2010, invited her out to dinner and later picked her up along with her son and drove them to the woods.

Once there, Garcia and his fellow gangbangers shot the woman in the head and chest, killing her, authorities said.

The boy then began crying and the thugs shot him in the head — but the wound was not fatal and the boy grabbed Garcia’s leg.

Another gang member, Adalberto Ariel Guzman, then shot him in the head a second time, and the child died.

“Once on his feet, Diego saw Garcia, a familiar face in the crowd, and clutched onto his leg. However, the violence did not stop. Guzman fired the second shot that struck Diego in the head and killed him,” Venizelos said.

Their bodies were found in the woods a day later.

Garcia is from El Salvador but also has ties to Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Panama — and was last spotted in a clothing store in Honduras in 2011.

In early 2010, Guzman, Garcia and Rene Mendez Mejia were identified as the killers, while the MS-13 leader who OK’d the hit was named as Heriberto Martinez.

Mejia pled guilty, while Guzman was found guilty by a jury. Both are awaiting sentencing for their crimes.

Martinez was also convicted and sentenced to three terms of life in prison, plus 60 years.