GAITHERSBURG, MD – A Montgomery County judge on Friday found a 24-year-old Frederick woman guilty of first-degree murder and related charges in the brutal killing of 18-year-old Rosa Sanchez Merino, whose body was discovered buried in a wooded area in Olney four months after she was reported missing.
Prosecutors said Iris Yudella Alonzo-Salgado was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and participation in a criminal organization resulting in death.
Investigators determined that Alonzo-Salgado and three others—Roberto Carlos Rivera-Delgado, Aracely Abarca-Melgar, and Edwin Alexander Rivas-Salvador—lured Sanchez Merino to New Jersey before returning her to Maryland, where she was killed.
Victim lured, gagged, and killed in the woods
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, the defendants drove Sanchez Merino from the Montgomery County area to New Jersey in late April 2023 to visit family members.
Several days later, they brought her back to Olney, forced her into a wooded area along Brookville Road, gagged her, and made her kneel before she was stabbed to death with a machete.
Her body was buried in a shallow grave, where it remained undiscovered for months. Police located her remains in September 2023 after Rivera-Delgado, arrested in Nevada on a parole violation, led detectives to the site.
An autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Sanchez Merino’s death was a homicide caused by sharp-force injuries.
Multiple arrests across states
Rivera-Delgado, 23, was extradited from Nevada to Maryland and charged alongside Alonzo-Salgado, 23, of Frederick; Abarca-Melgar, 21, of Manchester, New Hampshire; and Rivas-Salvador, 16, who was charged as an adult.
Abarca-Melgar was arrested in New York and is awaiting extradition to Maryland. Rivas-Salvador was taken into custody in mid-October 2023. All four were charged with first-degree murder and held without bond at the Montgomery County Central Processing Unit.
Prosecutors call case “cold and calculated”
Officials described the murder as an execution-style killing tied to organized criminal activity. The court found that Alonzo-Salgado actively participated in the conspiracy that led to Sanchez Merino’s death.
Sentencing for Alonzo-Salgado is expected to be scheduled in the coming weeks, while the cases against her co-defendants remain pending.
Key Points
- Iris Alonzo-Salgado was found guilty of first-degree murder and related charges in the killing of 18-year-old Rosa Sanchez Merino.
- The victim was lured from Maryland to New Jersey, then brought back and murdered with a machete in the woods.
- Three other defendants face related charges, including one juvenile charged as an adult.