MS-13 member admits to killing fellow member

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a MS-13 gang member who pleaded guilty to racketeering charges has admitted to killing a fellow gang member on Long Island.

Elmer Alexander Lopez entered the plea on Monday. The 20-year-old El Salvadoran native faces up to life in prison.

Prosecutors say Lopez and his coconspirators took turns slashing and fatally stabbing fellow MS-13 gang member Jose Pena because he was suspected of violating gang rules.

Police found Pena's body in a wooded area of Brentwood in October 2016.

A dozen others have been indicted in Pena's death and the killings of Brentwood High School students Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, who were ambushed by a carload of other teens.

MS-13 has been blamed for a spate of killings on Long Island since 2010.