Houston MS-13 leader arrested in 2018 killing over rap battle dispute



>> Photos: The scariest gangs in Houston less Google Street View of the field where Jose Villanueza was shot and hacked to death by alleged MS-13 gang members, about 400 feet from Lewis Elementary School on in the 3200 block of Spears Road.

>> ... more Google Street View of the field where Jose Villanueza was shot and hacked to death by alleged MS-13 gang members, about 400 feet from Lewis Elementary School on in the 3200 block of Spears Road. Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Houston MS-13 leader arrested in 2018 killing over rap battle dispute 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A suspected MS-13 leader in Houston was apprehended in the death of a rival gang member he worked with and whom he ordered a hit on for disparaging the transnational syndicate during a rap battle, according to authorities.

Mario Guevara, is charged with murder in the death of Jose Villanueza, whose decomposing body was found last August on Spring ISD property, court documents show. He was shot and hacked to death with a machete two weeks prior in an execution-style slaying inspired by the rap battle.

The 26-year-old man from El Salvador appeared in court Wednesday morning and was ordered to be held at the Harris County Jail on a $100,000 bond.

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Guevara is at least the third arrest in Villanueza’s July 29 death. Also charged in the killing is Karla Morales, 18, who Harris County Sheriff’s Office investigators apprehended in September, and Francisco Flores-Salazar, 19, who was arrested last week, court records show.

A family member reported Villanueza missing on Aug. 6 and his body was found on Spears Road in a grassy field about 400 feet from Lewis Elementary School the next day, according to court documents.

Villanueza knew Guevara from a landscaping company where they worked, prosecutors said during a probable cause hearing.

Morales identified Guevara as the leader of the gang who ordered Villanueza to be killed, according to investigators.

Guevara came to the field where Villanueza was taken but did not stick around to see the killing, prosecutors said. He tasked another to act as a lookout and keep him apprised of what was happening over the phone.

“He required him to call (Guevara) and provide information regarding the status of the murder and when it was completed,” said Teresa Cannady, reading the prosecution’s Guevara’s probable cause document in court.

The lookout was not identified in court documents but is apparently in custody and has spoken to investigators. He allegedly confessed to taking part in the killing, prosecutors said.

Flores-Salazar, who Morales knew by the nickname “Psycho,” is accused of wielding the machete that landed the sharp force injuries about Villanueza’s body. A spent shell casing was also found under him, but an autopsy revealed that he had been shot repeatedly.

The rap battle that apparently prompted the killing happened a week earlier at a bar. The spat involved Villanueza — who Morales identified as a 18th Street gang member — and a man who took offense to him “speaking negatively about ‘MS-13,’” according to court records. Morales said the man was Villanueza’s co-worker and an MS-13 gang member.

“A physical altercation occurred between them,” court records read.

That same week, Morales’ boyfriend, also an MS-13 gang member, claimed to have overheard Villanueza slight his girlfriend, she told investigators.

Guevara is alleged to have hatched a plan to have Villanueza killed after the string of insults. Morales was tasked with luring him out of his apartment on Antoine Street with text messages promising that they would celebrate his 24th birthday by smoking weed.

She knew the men were planning to kill Villanueza, according to prosecutors.

“She told one of the males she didn’t want to go through with it anymore, but they said it was too late,” investigators wrote last year in a search warrant.

Guevara, who appeared in court wearing a tank top, requested a court-appointed attorney through a Spanish translator. He has been in the U.S. for the past four years, most of which have been spent working as a landscaper, a defense attorney said.

Court records list Guevara’s home address in Tomball. He has no known arrests in Harris County or Texas.

nicole.hensley@chron.com

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