Case of Drive-By Murder on I-295 in 2015 Ends with Murder Conviction

               WASHINGTON – Oscar Ramos, 35, of Washington, D.C., was found guilty today of first degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed for the May 28, 2015 shooting that killed 50-year old Pedro Melendez Alvarado, of Alexandria, Virginia, and wounded 56-year old Miguel A. Rodriguez Carabantes, also of Alexandria, Virginia.  The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). 

               A Superior Court jury returned the verdict after a six-day trial. According to the government’s evidence, Ramos, who is a member of MS-13, was a passenger in a car that was driving on I-295 NB, in Southwest, D.C., near exit 1, when the car he was in pulled alongside another vehicle being driven by Mr. Alvarado who was on his way to work with Mr. Carabantes. The defendant and another passenger in the car with him opened fire on Mr. Alvarado’s car, struck the victims, then pulled away.

               The defendant was charged in 2021 after evidence was developed identifying him as one of the shooters. The defendant and Mr. Alvarado are both from El Salvador. The defendant believed Mr. Alvarado was somehow involved in the death of the defendant’s father, years earlier, in El Salvador.

               The Honorable Mark Raffinan scheduled sentencing for July 12, 2024.

               In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of those who investigated the case from MPD, the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, the Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Washington, D.C. Field Office, the Prince George’s County (Md.) Police Department, the Montgomery County (Md.) Police Department, the Chelsea, Massachusetts Police Department, and the Anne Arundel County (Md.) Fire Department. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Liebman and Jacqueline Yarbro who prosecuted the case at trial.