WASHINGTON — Two teens in Prince George’s County have been charged with murder in the stabbing death of a homeless man in an Adelphi, Maryland, park.
Elias Portillo, 14, and a 13-year-old, who’s being charged as a juvenile and was not identified by authorities, fatally stabbed 47-year-old Francisco Sagastizado in Adelphi Manor Park last month during a robbery attempt, police said. The teens stabbed Sagastizado after he refused their demands for money, police said.
Both teens are charged with first- and second-degree murder in Sagastizado’s slaying. But under Maryland law, only Portillo can be charged as an adult, said Cpl. Tyler Hunter with Prince George’s County police.
“They are very serious charges, and they will be held accountable for the actions they took regardless of their age,” Hunter told WTOP.
Officers with the Maryland National Capital Park Police found Sagastizado’s stabbed body in a wooded area of the par in the 7800 block of West Park Drive shortly after 8 a.m. on July 27, according to authorities.
Portillo is being held at the Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. The 13-year-old is being held at the Cheltenham Youth Detention Facility.
Hunter called the suspects’ young ages was “unsettling” to the community.
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“In this specific situation, we now have two families who now have two young children who their lives are now greatly affected … There is no good outcome to this.”
WTOP’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
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