One of four defendants charged in connection with the death of a teen found in Olney in May 2023 pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree murder in Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, according to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office
Roberto Rivera-Delgado, 23, of unknown address, pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder charge, as well as conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and participating in a criminal organization resulting in death, the state’s attorney’s office said Friday in a statement.
Rivera-Delgado faces the potential of life in prison during sentencing scheduled for June 2025, according to the statement. His attorney, David Booth, did not immediately respond Friday morning to MoCo360’s phone request for comment.
In October, Rivera-Delgado was one of four co-defendants charged in the 2023 homicide of 18-year-old Rosa Sanchez Merino. He was arrested for a parole violation in Nevada and extradited to Maryland on Sept. 29, according to the statement. The statement did not say where Merino resided.
The following day Rivera-Delgado met with county detectives and identified the other suspects, explained what happened and led detectives to a wooded area in the 3600 block of Brookeville Road to a shallow grave that contained Sanchez Merino’s remains, the statement said.
During his interview with detectives, Rivera-Delgado said he was a member of the Mara Salvatrucha Criminal Street Gang, also known as MS-13, according to charging documents.
In addition, Rivera-Delgado said he believed that he was not in good standing with the gang because he participated in the “unauthorized murder” of Sanchez Merino, charging documents state.
Two of the co-defendants are Aracely Abarca-Melgar, 22, of Manchester, New Hampshire, and Iris Yudella Alonzo-Salgado, 23, of Frederick. Both have also been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and participating in a criminal organization resulting in death.
According to the state’s attorney’s office, a fourth co-defendant–who was 16 at the time of his arrest–was also charged as an adult, but his identity and case details are shielded due to his age. (MoCo360 generally does not identify minors charged as adults.)
According to charging documents, Rivera-Delgado drove the co-defendants and Sanchez Merino in early May 2023 to a park in Olney. The group then led Sanchez Merino into the woods, placed her on her knees and took turns striking her on the neck with a machete, charging documents state.
Afterward, they buried her in a shallow grave in the woods, the documents said. Sanchez Merino’s body was not discovered until Sept. 30, 2023, when Rivera-Delagado led county detectives to the site of the killing.
An autopsy performed on Oct. 1 confirmed that Sanchez Merino died from sharp forced injuries, charging documents indicated.
Rivera-Delgado is currently being held at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds.