COLLEGE PARK, MD – Four suspects, including three adults from Washington, DC, and a 17-year-old from Hyattsville, have been charged in connection with the murder of 14-year-old Jefferson Amaya-Ayala, whose remains were discovered last fall in a wooded area of Indian Creek Stream Valley Park, police announced Friday.
The Prince George’s County Police Department said 18-year-old Jose Merlos-Majano, 21-year-old Alan Josai Garcia-Padilla, 19-year-old William Cuellar Gutierrez, and a juvenile suspect are all in custody following a months-long joint investigation with the FBI Baltimore Field Office.
Investigators said the case began on November 3, 2025, when officers assisting the Metropolitan Police Department and FBI Cross Border Task Force in a missing person search discovered what appeared to be human remains in the park. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner later confirmed the remains belonged to Amaya-Ayala and ruled the death a homicide caused by multiple injuries.
According to detectives, the victim was lured to the park and killed on August 2, 2025. Police said the teenager knew at least one of the suspects, and while the crime appears to be gang-related, the specific motive remains under investigation.
The U.S. Marshals Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force assisted in three of the arrests alongside the PGPD Fugitive Unit and FBI Baltimore Field Office. Authorities said Cuellar Gutierrez and the 17-year-old are held at the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections, while Merlos-Majano and Garcia-Padilla remain in custody in Washington, DC, and Alexandria, VA, pending extradition.
The homicide occurred within the jurisdiction of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police Prince George’s County Division and is being investigated by PGPD homicide detectives.
Police charged four suspects in the gang-related murder of a DC teen whose remains were found months later in a College Park park.