This is the moment a teenage MS-13 gangster admitted torturing and murdering a 15-year-old girl who she believed had killed her boyfriend.

Venus Romero Iraheta, 18, pleaded guilty to the murder in Fairfax County, Virginia on Monday, one year after brutally stabbing Damaris Reyes Rivas 13 times.

Now a video of her interrogation by police in February last year has been revealed, showing the gang member explaining why she killed Reyes Rivas after telling her: 'remember me until the day we see each other in hell.'

Fellow MS-13 gangsters recorded Rivas being tortured, having her tattoo cut off and stabbed to death by Iraheta, and then sent it to gang leaders in El Salvador.

It is another gruesome attack by the gang that President Trump has vowed to crack down on after a crime wave across the nation - notably in Long Island, Texas and Virginia.

Venus Romero Iraheta, 18, pleaded guilty to the murder in Fairfax County on Monday, one year after brutally stabbing Damaris Reyes Rivas 13 times. Pictured: Iraheta pointing to her neck to show cops where she stabbed her victim

A video of her interrogation by police in February last year has been revealed, showing the MS-13 gang member explaining why she killed Reyes Rivas

Iraheta (left) said she murdered Reyes Rivas (right) to avenge the death of her boyfriend, Christian Sosa Rivas, who she claimed Reyes Rivas had lured to his death

In the shocking footage first seen by Fox5, Iraheta, then 17, explains how she took Reyes Rivas to a wooded area at Lake Accotink Park with nine other people before torturing and murdering her.

She said she killed the girl to avenge the murder of her boyfriend, Christian Sosa Rivas. She blamed Reyes Rivas for luring Sosa Rivas, also an MS-13 member, to his death.

She told interrogators she said to the girl: 'Don't forget my name. And I told her my full name and I told her my nickname.

'And I told it to her and I told her to never forget who I was. I told her someday we're going to see each other again.'

When she is asked what she did next, she replies in English: 'I killed her.'

She then explains that she stabbed her 'something like' thirteen times with a knife.

In the interrogation video, Iraheta tells cops in Spanish that she told Reyes Rivas (pictured) she would 'remember me until the day we see each other in hell'

Pointing to her stomach, she said she stabbed Reyes Rivas '12 [times] here' before pointing to her neck and adding: 'The thirteenth was here.'

Iraheta told interrogators she had asked Reyes Rivas if she 'had something to do with' her boyfriend.

When she said yes, Iraheta replied: 'I'm not going to forgive you.'

She went on: 'I told her, 'I warned you not to mess with me. I told you not to mess with Christian. I told you to stay away from him or you would see what would happen. You don't play with me.'

'So I hit her. I kept hitting her. Until they stopped me.'

The disgusting murder was also recorded on video with a cellphone so it could be sent to gang leaders in El Salvador as a way of gaining promotion.

Iraheta told cops she cut off a tattoo on Reyes Rivas's hand that Sosa Rivas had given her before the murder.

But when she is asked if the murder bothers her, she simply shakes her head.

Fairfax County's attorney, Ray Morrogh, said on Monday that Iraheta was a 'prodigy at violence', NBC Washington reported.

Iraheta could get a maximum term of life in jail plus twenty years when she is sentenced on May 25.

MS-13 GANGSTER VENUS IRAHETA'S CONFESSION TO KILLING DAMARIS RIVAS Asked what she said to her victim, Iraheta told interrogators: 'You're going to remember me until the day we see each other in hell. Don't forget my name. And I told her my full name and I told her my nickname. And I told it to her and I told her to never forget who I was. I told her someday we were going to see each other again.' Interrogator: 'And then what did you do?' Iraheta: 'I killed her.' Interrogator: 'How did you kill her?' Iraheta: 'With a knife.' Interrogator: 'What did you do with the knife?' Iraheta: 'I don't remember how many times I stabbed her in the stomach.' Interrogator: 'Was it a lot?' Iraheta: 'Thirteen. Something like that.' Interrogator: 'Why 13?' Iraheta: 'I don't remember. No, I think it was 12 here [pointing to stomach] and the thirteenth was in here [pointing to neck].' Iraheta: 'I asked her if at any time she had something to do with Christian. She said yes. I said I'm not going to forgive you […] I told her, 'I warned you not to mess with me. I told you not to mess with Christian. I told you to stay away from him or you would see what would happen. You don't play with me.' So I hit her. I kept hitting her. Until they stopped me.' Iraheta: 'I left the knife in her neck. Interrogator: 'Who took it out?' Iraheta: 'I went back and took it out, and gave it to someone else.' Interrogator: 'Does [the killing] bother you?' Iraheta: [Shakes head] Interrogator: 'Why doesn't it bother you?' Iraheta: 'I don't know.'


So far, seven of the 10 people charged in connection with the murder have either been convicted or have pleaded guilty.

They will be sentenced on May 5.

MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, consists chiefly of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Central America.

The gang is notorious for its links to cartels and organized crime, and for its ability to access high-powered weapons.

Iraheta lured Damaris to a wooded area near this park. Gruesome cell phone videos show the gang torturing the girl

The disgusting murder was also recorded on video with a cellphone so it could be sent to gang leaders in El Salvador as a way of gaining promotion. Left: Iraheta. Right: Reyes Rivas

TWO MS-13 MEMBERS CHARGED WITH RAPING AND KIDNAPPING TEENAGE GIRLS LAST YEAR Two members of MS-13 based in Houston were charged last year on suspicion of killing a teenager and kidnapping another in 2017. Gang leader Miguel Angel Alvarez-Flores, 22, who also goes by 'Diabolico,' and 18-year-old Diego Alexan Hernandez-Rivera, who had a Satanic shrine in their Houston apartment, laughed, smiled and waved in court as they faced charges of aggravated kidnapping and murder. Prosecutors said the two kidnapped a 14-year-old girl after she left school around February 2, holding her in an apartment where she was raped by a gang member. Miguel Alvarez-Flores (right) smiles and waves at news cameras in Houston court on Wednesday, as the gang leader known as 'Diabolico' and his partner 18-year-old Diego Hernandez-Rivera (left) faced charges of aggravated kidnapping and murder Another girl kept at the apartment, named only as Genesis, was found shot dead in the head and chest on February 16, and has not been identified. Authorities released the facial reconstruction image of one of the pair's alleged victims in a bid to identify her. The girl - aged between 15 and 25 - was found dead on the morning of February 16. She was also shot in the neck and torso. Police said Rivera had confessed to leading the woman to a remote area and shooting her. Advertisement

Because of civil wars and guerrilla insurgencies in Central America, many of the gang's founding members had paramilitary experience, making them more deadly than other criminal groups.

Its primary weapons, however, are baseball bats and machetes.

The Department of Justice classifies MS-13 as a 'transnational criminal organization' engaged in drug trafficking, kidnapping, human smuggling, prostitution, murder and extortion.

President Donald Trump has referred to MS-13 as 'bad hombres.'

Because many MS-13 members are under the age of 18, the U.S. is unable to lawfully return them to their home countries.

The gang has a strong presence in Southern California, Washington and Northern Virginia, all areas with substantial Salvadoran populations.

There are at least 30,000 members in a range of countries, including at least 10,000 in the United States.

Its official motto is 'Kill, Rape, Control.'

Among the most high-profile killings attributed to MS-13 in Virginia was the 2003 slaying of a pregnant teenager who had become a police informant.

The Department of Justice classifies MS-13 as a 'transnational criminal organization' engaged in drug trafficking, kidnapping, human smuggling, prostitution, murder and extortion. Pictured: Members of the gang in a San Salvador prison last year

Brenda Paz, 17, was stabbed to death and her body was left along the banks of the Shenandoah River.

Thirteen other MS-13 members, ten of whom are illegal immigrants, were arrested in connection to seven slayings on New York's Long Island in 2017.

Trump delivered his most explicit verdict on the gang in August last year, saying during a speech in New York that 'they kidnap, they extort, they rape and they rob. They stomp on their victims. They beat them with clubs, they slash them with machetes, and they stab them with knives.'

'They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful quiet neighborhoods into bloodstained killing fields. They're animals.'

