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US military carries out targeted strike on narco-terrorist network in Ecuador
The U.S. military carried out a targeted strike Friday against a narco-terrorist network in Ecuador, U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said.
SOUTHCOM said the joint U.S.-Ecuador operation involved lethal kinetic action against suspected designated terrorist organizations in the country.
"At the order of @SecWar, #SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan directed the joint force to support Ecuadorian forces conducing lethal kinetic operations against Designated Terrorist Organizations within Ecuador March 6," SOUTHCOM posted on X.
Donovan said in a statement that the U.S. was "advancing alongside our partners in the fight against narcoterrorism."
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"I congratulate our joint forces and the Ecuadorian armed forces for the successful operation against narcoterrorists in Ecuador," he said. "This collaborative and decisive action is a strategic success for all nations in the Western Hemisphere committed to disrupting and defeating narcoterrorism."
It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties from the operation.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth shared a video of the strike on X, writing, "Yes — as @POTUS has said — we are bombing narco-terrorists on land as well. Thank you to our partners in Ecuador. Much more to come from @Southcom."
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Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement that the War Department is "uniting partners across the Western Hemisphere to detect, disrupt, and destroy designated terrorist organizations that fuel violence and corruption."
Parnell said Ecuador requested that the War Department execute targeted action "to advance our shared objective of dismantling narco-terrorist networks."
"This operation demonstrates the power of coordinated action and sends a clear message: narco-terrorist networks will not find refuge in our hemisphere," he said.
Parnell added that the U.S. "remains steadfast in supporting nations that stand against narcoterrorism."
"Together, we will dismantle trafficking and corruption networks, hold these organizations accountable, and restore peace through strength," he said.
The strike follows joint operations launched earlier this week by U.S. and Ecuadorian forces targeting suspected narco-terrorists in Ecuador, according to U.S. Southern Command.
SOUTHCOM said it was taking "decisive action" against designated terrorist organizations.
Stephen Hibbert, actor behind 'Pulp Fiction's' The Gimp, dead at 68
"Pulp Fiction" star Stephen Hibbert, known for playing the character The Gimp, has died at the age of 68.
Fox News Digital confirmed the actor died on Monday, March 2 in Denver, Colorado.
Hibbert died after suffering a heart attack, a family member told Fox News Digital. The family member noted that they are currently awaiting the results of an autopsy report to determine further details.
While Hibbert is best known for his work in "Pulp Fiction," he started out in Hollywood as a writer, lending his talents to "Late Night with David Letterman," working on the show for 259 episodes from 1984 to 1986. As a writer, he also worked on "Boy Meets World" and "Mad TV."
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Following his role in the classic Quentin Tarantino film, Hibbert appeared in the movies "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," playing a guard, as well as in "The Cat in the Hat" and "National Treasure: Book of Secrets."
In an interview with AARP in October 2024 for the 30th anniversary of "Pulp Fiction," Hibbert shared what it was like suddenly being recognized by fans following the movie's release.
"The weekend 'Pulp' opened, I was visiting my mom and dad in San Juan Capistrano," he said. "When I got home, there were two dozen messages on my answering machine, almost all from guys telling me they really enjoyed my performance, and would I like to meet them for coffee? Yikes!"
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He continued: "These fellas had to wait for the end credits to see who played the Gimp, then find a pay phone, call L.A. 411 and snag my number. I quickly changed my number and became unlisted."
Hibbert was married to actress Julia Sweeney from 1989 to 1994, telling AARP that he and Sweeney, who also appeared in "Pulp Fiction," met Tarantino when he visited The Groundlings theater when "he would guest with the improv show on Thursday nights."
"He was pretty much the same then as now, hilarious, endlessly curious and passionate about film," he said of his friendship with the director. "Quentin, Julia and I were moviegoing buddies and sometime collaborators already, so he asked us to audition for 'Pulp Fiction.'"
The actor and writer is survived by his three children: Ronnie, Rosalind and Greg.
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"Our father, Stephen Hibbert, passed away unexpectedly this week," the actor's children told TMZ in a statement. "His life was full of love and dedication to the arts and his family. He will be dearly missed by many."
Trump sets sights on NIL regulation, SCORE Act at college sports roundtable, teases another executive order
President Donald Trump hosted a college sports roundtable Friday to examine solutions to key challenges, including NCAA authority; name, image and likeness (NIL) issues; collective bargaining; and governance concerns.
Athletic officials in attendance included NCAA President Charlie Baker, former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, OutKick founder Clay Travis, New York Yankees President Randy Levine and each of the Power Four commissioners, among others.
"This is the future, I think, beyond college sports. This is the future of colleges," Trump said to kick off the roundtable. "The amount of money being spent and lost by otherwise very successful schools is astounding just in a short period of time. It's only going to get worse. We have to save college sports, and, I believe, colleges.
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"Crazy things are happening. ... We have a seven-year freshman. We're seeing things we've never seen before. College players not wanting to go pro because they make more money in college," he added.
Trump said there has been an "inability to set rules," noting that different states have different NIL laws, prompting another challenge for college sports.
"If Congress doesn't take action fast, it could destroy college sports," Trump said.
Trump ripped "one judge who knew nothing about sports, knew nothing about football, knew nothing about Olympics, knew nothing about anything, just decided everything was unconstitutional."
He was likely referring to Judge Claudia Wilken, who ruled in 2019 that the NCAA’s limits on education-related benefits violated antitrust law.
"It's crazy. Only Congress can deliver a permanent fix," Trump said.
Trump noted he was not aiming to revert to athletes not being paid.
"Although, not the worst idea," he admitted. "But I think a lot of people would overrule me on that."
Later on, Trump said he wanted to "just go back to what you had, let some judge tell you can't do it, you appeal, and you win at some point. Because what you had — what a great system. Everybody was happy."
Saban said helping athletes become more successful on a personal level has become "impossible" in today's era.
"People, instead of making decisions about creating value for their future, they were making decisions about how much money could they make at whichever school they can go to or transfer to," Saban said.
"I think we need to come up with a system, and, obviously, we have to do it with the president's leadership and also with Congress probably ... to allow student-athletes in all sports to enhance their quality of life while going to college but still provide opportunity to advance themselves beyond their athletic career, which is what the philosophy of college athletes and getting a college education has always been about."
Trump has been adamant about "saving college sports," even signing an executive order setting new restrictions on payments to college athletes in July.
The president's order prohibits athletes from receiving pay-to-play payments from third-party sources. However, the order did not impose any restrictions on NIL payments to college athletes by third-party sources. It also demands that schools account for preserving resources for the non-revenue sports.
The SCORE Act was at the forefront of the roundtable. It was scheduled to be voted on in December but the vote was canceled shortly before. The White House endorsed the act, but three Republicans — Byron Donalds of Florida, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Chip Roy of Texas — voted with Democrats not to bring the act to the floor. Democrats have largely opposed the bill, urging members of the House to vote against it.
The SCORE Act would give the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the NCAA from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules and would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools. It prohibits schools from using student fees to fund NIL payments.
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Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., said the act "hurts" women's sports, and strengthening Title IX "has to be part of the SCORE Act." She also said the SCORE Act "represented a consolidation of what we have today, which is the SEC and the Big Ten" getting a boatload of the money college athletics garners.
Trahan did concur that "maybe the SCORE Act is the right vehicle we continue to tweak," showing some confidence in it and expressing her desire to work with those at the roundtable to make it successful. U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said that women's sports would be "protected," while Jim Phillips, the ACC commissioner, said 56% of the ACC's athletic scholarships have gone to women since the House case.
Tim Pernetti, commissioner of the American Conference, said the SCORE Act doesn't fix college athletics' "economic crisis." Meyer admitted he did not like how collectives were still included in the SCORE Act, calling it "cheating."
"I think if the collective goes away, college sports gets better immediately," Meyer said.
After deliberations, Trump said he'd write an executive order "based on great common sense."
"It's gonna let colleges survive and players survive and let a lot of people be very, very happy," Trump said.
A month before Trump's order, Wilken approved a settlement between the NCAA, its most powerful conferences and lawyers representing all Division I athletes. The deal means the NCAA will pay close to $2.8 billion in back damages over the next 10 years to college athletes who competed from 2016 to 2025. The settlement also allows for college programs to pay athletes directly.
Fox News' Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.
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Man accused of Iran-backed Trump assassination plot compared his plan to Butler shooting: FBI
A Pakistani man convicted Friday of plotting to assassinate President Donald Trump and other politicians told an FBI agent he thought Iran "was responsible" for the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Asif Merchant, 47, told the FBI agent, Jacqueline Smith, that the incident "was the same thing he was sent here to do," Smith testified during Merchant's trial. Merchant told jurors the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sent him on a "mission" to kill U.S. politicians, including by telling him to attend a Republican rally.
Merchant was arrested July 12, 2024, one day prior to the shooting in Butler, where Thomas Crooks fired several shots into a rally crowd, killing one and grazing Trump’s ear.
The FBI has said repeatedly it found no evidence that Crooks had co-conspirators or that any foreign actors were involved in the incident.
Merchant, who was convicted by a jury of murder-for-hire and attempting to commit terrorism, testified that Trump was not his only target, telling jurors then-President Joe Biden and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley were also on his list. He claimed he only took part in the plot, which was foiled by the FBI before coming to fruition, because Iran's IRGC warned it would target his family.
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"I had no other options," Merchant said. "My family was threatened."
Merchant now faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. His sentence will be determined at a later hearing.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that Merchant "landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement."
"The Department of Justice will remain ever-vigilant to protect Americans, prosecute terrorists, and halt acts of terrorism before they happen," Bondi said.
Merchant was arrested after he was recorded on camera outlining a plot on a napkin to kill a politician with a person who turned out to be an FBI informant. Federal prosecutors showed video during the trial of Merchant speaking to the informant. The prosecutors said Merchant also tried to hire two hit men and pay them $5,000, but the men turned out to be federal agents posing as assassins.
Smith, the FBI agent who met with Merchant after his arrest, said Merchant never conveyed that he feared for his family. Merchant said he wanted to do intelligence work and be paid for it, Smith said.
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The FBI agent also said Merchant was told by an Iranian handler to attend a Republican political rally to scope out security. But Merchant was worried about being identified, so he watched the rally online instead.
Merchant’s defense team told jurors their client, who has two wives, was a family man and cared deeply about his faith and that he intentionally acted carelessly because he wanted to be caught.
In their closing arguments, defense lawyers said Merchant had his hand forced in the operation, thinking his family would be harmed if he did not cooperate. Additionally, the lawyers cited several instances in which Merchant's actions as an intelligence operator were little more than incompetent.
Fox News' Danielle Cavaliere and Brendan McDonald contributed.
Trump admin hits back at ex-California mayor's call for federal guaranteed income as cities hand out cash
The Trump administration punched back at the founder of the Mayors for a Guaranteed Income organization, saying that Democratic mayors should prioritize other issues within their cities instead of issuing handouts, Fox News Digital was told.
"Americans don’t need handouts, but a dynamic economy with wage, job and investment growth, which the Trump administration is unleashing with a proven economic agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and tariffs," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital Friday.
"Democrat mayors should focus on cleaning up their city streets before embarrassing themselves with a stupid PR push."
The White House was responding to the founder of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income organization, Michael D. Tubbs, a Democrat, who told Fox News Digital the federal government should strive to develop a policy that provides cash assistance with no strings attached.
"We have wars in Iran, regime change in Venezuela. We get it, the healthcare system and the big, ugly bill," Tubbs said. "So, people are saying that social safety is being frayed.
"That wealth is further being taken from the many and given to the few, and there has to be a government solution because this is a government-caused problem. … Inflation, unaffordability, this is all a direct result of government policy," Tubbs told Fox News Digital.
Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, a coalition of over 150 mayors, has pushed pilot programs that have been adopted by municipalities across the country.
The group is responsible for more than 100 pilot programs launching since 2018. Most notably, Cook County, Illinois, the second-largest county in the U.S., established a permanent guaranteed basic income program after the success of a previous pilot version. The program launched in 2022 with the aid of federal COVID-19 relief funds.
Tubbs, who served as mayor of Stockton, California, from 2017 to 2021, also founded the Counties for a Guaranteed Income and Legislators for a Guaranteed Income.
Mayors for a Guaranteed Income touted in February that more than 60 bills that would implement cash-based policies similar to guaranteed income have been floated in 15 states. Legislators for a Guaranteed Income reported more than 20 bills in 11 states being proposed to establish some form of statewide guaranteed income program.
Tubbs said offering low-income participants up to $1,000 a month with no strings attached through guaranteed income programs is needed while Americans struggle with the affordability crisis.
Rising costs of groceries, housing and healthcare prompted the federal government to act. The House passed legislation — showing a rare display of bipartisanship last month with a 390-9 vote — to deliver policies aimed at growing the supply of affordable housing in the U.S.
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Responding to Desai's statement, Tubbs told Fox News Digital the "reality is only billionaires have seen their lives get easier under the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress."
Tubbs added that unemployment is up and costs continue to rise.
"And over half of Americans cannot afford the bare basics needed to survive," he said.
"The Wall Street Journal reports that the majority of Americans now believe the American dream is out of reach for them. Making the rich richer does nothing to help the rest of us. Guaranteed income policies have been tested in 36 states and proven that providing an income floor for Americans unlocks opportunity and gives families the ability to truly thrive."
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The former mayor decried the dismantling of federal aid programs in a news release published last month after the Trump administration froze more than $10 billion in federal childcare and social services funding to five Democratic-led states. The concerns were that taxpayer dollars were improperly diverted to noncitizens.
While studies have shown that guaranteed income pilots have been beneficial, some programs face funding shortages and legal challenges.
President Donald Trump took a shot at Democrats over affordability issues in the country during his State of the Union address last month, saying they had brought about inflation and open borders.
"Now the same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly use the word 'affordability,'" he said. "A word, they just used it. Somebody gave it to them, knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure. You caused that problem."
Miami developer accused of $85M fraud scheme, blowing investor cash on yacht, Rolex
A federal indictment unsealed Friday charged a Florida real estate developer with orchestrating an $85 million fraud scheme, failing to pay millions in taxes and lying to financial institutions to purchase a luxury yacht.
Rishi Kapoor, 41, of Miami, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit offenses against and to defraud the U.S., failure to pay payroll taxes, tax evasion, failure to file tax returns and bank fraud.
The indictment also includes forfeiture allegations, including a Rolex Daytona watch and 2.5-carat platinum ring.
Kapoor was the CEO of Location Ventures, a Miami-based real estate development company that purported to develop projects in Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale.
Court documents allege Kapoor raised roughly $85 million from investors, but most of the promised real estate projects were never built.
Despite being entitled to a capped salary of $400,000, plus certain fees, Kapoor diverted substantially more funds for personal use, including the purchase of a 68-foot yacht and a house in Cocoplum, according to court documents.
Kapoor allegedly misrepresented to investors the amount of his personal financial contribution to Location Ventures, claiming he had invested $13 million alongside his business partner and family when, in reality, he contributed roughly half that amount.
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He is also accused of deceiving escrow agents to secure the release of pre-construction condominium deposits and then misappropriating those funds for personal expenses unrelated to the developments.
As a result, condominium projects in Coconut Grove and Miami Beach were never built.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones of the Southern District of Florida said Kapoor withheld payroll taxes from employees but failed to turn that money over to th IRS, "effectively stealing from his own employees."
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Court documents allege Kapoor diverted more than $2 million from company accounts for his personal benefit and failed to pay his own personal taxes from 2019 through 2023 despite earning more than $2.8 million in income in 2022 and 2023.
Kapoor was also charged with falsifying bank statements to inflate his account balances, failing to disclose a significant mortgage on his Cocoplum residence and misrepresenting that his tax returns had been filed with the IRS, all to obtain more than $9 million in financing.
One bank extended a $5 million line of credit to Location Ventures, while another loaned Kapoor $4.2 million to finance the yacht purchase, according to the indictment.
If convicted, Kapoor faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud; up to 10 years for money laundering; up to five years for each count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., failure to pay payroll taxes, tax evasion and failure to file tax returns; and up to 30 years for each count of bank fraud.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also filed a civil action against Kapoor.
"These are serious allegations that will now be addressed in federal court," Quiñones wrote in a statement. "The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."
WNBA star Arike Ogunbowale arrested in Miami during Unrivaled championship celebration
Arike Ogunbowale, a four-time WNBA All-Star and Unrivaled league standout, was taken into police custody early Thursday after an alleged altercation at a Miami nightclub, police records showed.
Miami-Dade officers arrested Ogunbowale around 4:30 am after an unnamed male was suspected of being punched at Club E11EVEN. FOX Sports Radio reported, citing police sources, a man was struck "in the face and he fell to the ground." The incident was allegedly recorded.
Ogunbowale was at the venue to celebrate winning the 2026 Unrivaled championship.
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According to police, surveillance footage from the nightclub supported the alleged victim’s account. The Dallas Wings guard, 29, faces a misdemeanor battery charge and was released on $1,000 bond.
Unrivaled addressed the incident in a statement, saying, "The league is aware of an incident involving Arike Ogunbowale and we are in the process of gathering additional information," a spokesperson told ESPN. "We’re in contact with Arike and her representatives."
Ogunbowale scored 19 points in Wednesday’s Unrivaled title game, but the Mist’s 80-74 win over the Phantom at Sephora Arena in Miami came with some controversy.
Late in the game, with Ogunbowale and the Mist one point from victory, Breanna Stewart was called for an offensive foul on a drive to the basket.
Mist coach Zach O'Brien quickly challenged the referee's call, which was eventually overturned. Stewart then went to free thrown line to clinch the upstart league's title, marking the second consecutive year the Unrivaled championship has been clinched at the foul line.
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Fired Michigan coach Sherrone Moore reaches plea deal in case over alleged break-in at mistress's home
Sherrone Moore, who was fired as Michigan's head football coach in December, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in a deal to resolve a felony criminal case.
Moore was facing charges of stalking, breaking and entering and home invasion of the home of his executive assistant, with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair.
Authorities said Moore had confronted the alleged mistress and blamed her for his dismissal, even threatening to kill himself with butter knives in her apartment.
The case was resolved after Friday's plea deal.
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The deal was struck the same day a judge planned to hear a challenge to Moore’s arrest in December on three charges, including felony home invasion. Those previous charges were dropped in exchange for Moore pleading no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and misdemeanor malicious use of a telecommunications device.
His sentencing is scheduled for April 14 for charges that have a potential maximum of six months and 30 days in prison.
"All the charges against Mr. Moore were not supported by facts and law," said attorney Ellen Michaels, standing alongside Moore and his wife outside the courtroom. "The dismissal of those charges validates the concerns we raised about the investigation from the very beginning. Mr. Moore is pleased to put this behind him and move forward.
"It’s not stalking if the communication has a legitimate purpose."
Moore declined comment to reporters after the hearing.
"No, I’m good," he said. "Appreciate it."
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Moore, 40, was fired Dec. 10 after two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before leaving to lead the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.
In dismissing Moore, the university cited his inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski said the woman ended the affair a few days before Moore’s firing and cooperated with the school’s investigation.
Michaels declined to say if she was involved in potential litigation against the university on Moore’s behalf. He signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university did not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.
Michigan also did not renew the contract of the female football staffer who was suspected to have been in a relationship with Moore.
A university spokesperson confirmed the departure to Fox News Digital.
"Her contract expired and was not renewed," the spokesperson said.
The staffer, whose LinkedIn profile listed her as an executive assistant to the head football coach at the University of Michigan, earned just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Spanberger lashes out at Pentagon after Hegseth pulls colleges’ support over woke ‘ideologies’
Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger hit back at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon announced it would cut ties and funding relationships with numerous collegiate institutions over what it described as woke ideologies.
A Pentagon leadership memo initialed "PBH" — the secretary’s full name is Peter Brian Hegseth — sent just before the U.S. bombed Iran and entitled "Aligning senior service college opportunities with American values," laid out an examination of standing "Professional Military Education institutions, [the] bedrock upon which we build lethal warfighters grounded in the founding principles that underpin American
Spanberger fired back after it was reported that the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., would be affected. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot covered her remarks at a high school in Hampton — about halfway between the two cities.
Spanberger said the move is an "outrageous attack at yet another point of pride in Virginia," as the memo said the Senior Service College programs there would be ended and that servicemembers would lose support.
"The idea that the Pentagon would pull back from this fellowship program that has been long a fixture at William & Mary is just outrageous," she said, according to the paper.
The Pentagon memo said the department will "no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders’ warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they swore to defend," and that more than a dozen schools faced termination.
Spanberger, who formerly worked for the CIA, said the move speaks to the Defense Department’s "lack of understanding of the real strength of universities, whether it’s William & Mary or others, in educating the next generation of military leadership," according to the paper.
She also cited the fact William & Mary’s current chancellor is himself one of Hegseth’s predecessors.
Robert Gates was former President George H.W. Bush’s director of central intelligence and later served as Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, remaining in the role into former President Barack Obama’s term.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
In a statement obtained by Hampton Roads’ CBS affiliate, the college administration said it was "puzzled and saddened" by Hegseth’s move, saying that William & Mary is "among the country’s most military-friendly institutions" and also embraces its ROTC program.
While the Williamsburg school may be on the chopping block, the affiliate reported that Regent University in Virginia Beach — founded by Christian evangelist Pat Robertson — may be considered one of the replacement institutions.
In the memo, Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis, MIT, Tufts, Georgetown, George Washington University, Princeton, Yale, Brown and Queen’s University in Canada were listed as schools facing separation.
Colleges being considered as replacements include Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., The Citadel, Virginia Tech, the University of North Carolina, Clemson University and Hillsdale College in Michigan.
Four illegal immigrants linked to MS-13 indicted for allegedly murdering 14-year-old boy in Maryland park
Four illegal migrants, who are members of the notorious MS-13 gang, have been indicted after they allegedly brutally murdered a 14-year-old boy in a Maryland park.
Jose Merlos-Majano, 18, Alan Josai Garcia-Padilla, 21, William Cuellar Gutierrez, 19, and a 17-year-old were indicted on charges, including first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and participation in a criminal organization, according to Prince George's County State's Attorney Tara Jackson.
All four indicted are MS-13 gang members and illegal immigrants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed.
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Jefferson Amaya-Ayala, 14, of Washington, D.C., was reported missing on Aug. 2, 2025. Nearly three months later, on Nov. 3, Prince George’s County police announced that officers had recovered "what appeared to be possible human remains" in a park in Prince George’s County.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) later identified the remains as Amaya-Ayala and determined he died from "multiple injuries," ruling the death a homicide.
Through their investigation, detectives identified the four suspects in the alleged homicide. Authorities said that their preliminary investigation found that Amaya-Ayala "was lured" to the park and murdered on Aug. 2.
Police said that the teen "knew at least one of the four suspects," adding that the murder appears gang-related. However, the motive remains under investigation.
DHS identified Merlos-Majano as a Salvadoran national, who authorities allege is affiliated with MS-13. DHS said he was previously arrested in Washington, D.C., on charges including defacing public property and possession of a prohibited weapon after allegedly spray-painting MS-13 gang symbols on homes.
DHS said Garcia-Padilla, 21, also a Salvadoran national alleged to be an MS-13 member, was previously convicted in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia of attempted unlawful possession of ammunition. He was also found in possession of fraudulent documents, including a lawful permanent resident card and a Social Security card, according to DHS. The agency said Garcia-Padilla was released from custody during the Biden administration.
Cuellar Gutierrez was also identified by DHS as a Salvadoran national and alleged MS-13 member. He was previously arrested by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia on multiple weapons-related charges, including possession of a large-capacity ammunition feeding device, possession of an unregistered firearm, carrying a pistol without a license, carrying a pistol without a license in a gun-free zone, and possession of unregistered ammunition.
DHS said he was released from custody during the Biden administration.
A fourth suspect, a 17-year-old, has also been charged.