Brenda Paz

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Brenda Paz (1986–2003) was a member of Mara Salvatrucha, a Central American and United States street gang. She was born in Honduras and raised in Los Angeles, California where she joined the gang at the age of 13.^[1]

[edit] Life

She joined the Normandie Locos, a clique of MS-13. She was arrested in Virginia with her boyfriend Denis Rivera in June 2002 where she gave witness testimony about the gang. Paz provided the police with information about how Mara Salvatrucha was running and also got her ex-boyfriend arrested for murdering a teen who he thought was in a gang. Although she became a police informant, Paz still associated with gang members while she was placed in witness protection. A diary detailing her conversations with police was discovered by members of MS, which marked her as a "snitch".

[edit] Death

Paz was stabbed to death on July 13, 2003 on a fishing trip on the Shenandoah River in rural Virginia by members of Mara Salvatrucha, after other gang members discovered she was talking with law enforcement officials.^[2] She was 17 years old and four months pregnant. Her murder focused national attention on MS-13 and led to a nation-wide crackdown on the gang. Four of her friends, including Ismael J. Cisneros and Oscar A. Grande, were later convicted of the murder.