An 18-year-old man charged with the murder of a man on an Alexandria, Virginia, playground pleaded guilty Monday.
Reinaldo Mauricio Portillo Membreno was charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Jose Luis Perez Ferman.
Portillo Membreno's co-conspirators, Alvaro Saenz Castro and Leidi Granados Guitierrez, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of felony destruction of evidence of murder.
Prosecutors say the victim was having dinner with friends at National Harbor when he received a phone call and began to act withdrawn, court document state. He said he felt ill and wanted to be dropped off at home.
Once he was back home, Ferman left, saying he was going to smoke. He never returned.
According to the prosecution, the victim and Guitierrez agreed to meet in at Beverly Park in Alexandria that evening for what the victim believed would be a romantic encounter.
Court documents say Guitierrez and Castro were dating at the time. When Castro found the messages between Guitierrez and the victim, he told her that she needed to bring Ferman to the park for him to "talk it out."
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When the victim arrived at the park, Castro and Portillo Membreno were waiting for him, the prosecution said.
Castro told police that he originally wanted to tell the victim to stop talking to his girlfriend, but he "lost control." Castro said he struck the victim with a small knife and machete. According to court documents, Portillo Membreno struck the victim with a machete as well.
Ferman's body was found in the park the next day under a playground bridge at Beverley Park.
Membreno will be sentenced April 20, 2017.
