Four members of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan prison gang the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization, pleaded guilty Wednesday in the murders of two Americans on a Bronx street.
The Justice Department announced the pleas on June 3, 2026.
Keiber Jaen Martinez, Samuel Gonzalez Castro, Eferson Morillo-Gomez, and Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica each admitted to two counts of murder through the use of a firearm and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The case stems from the May 24, 2024 killings of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels, 44, and Justin Lawless, 36, and the shooting of a third unarmed U.S. citizen who survived. All three were New York City residents.
🚨Four Illegal Alien Tren de Aragua Members PLEAD GUILTY to Double Murder in 2024
The TdA members also pleaded guilty to shooting and injuring a third U.S. Citizen during the May 2024 Shooting in the Bronx following the Homeland Security Task Force Investigation.
“Thanks to… pic.twitter.com/Fk89I16Nl9
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) June 3, 2026
The Justice Department stated in its official release:
Four members of the designated foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua (TdA), Keiber Jaen Martinez, also known as “Keybe,” Samuel Gonzalez Castro, also known as “Klei” and “Kley,” Eferson Morillo-Gomez, also known as “Jefferson,” and “Efe Trebol,” and Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica, also known as “Keiner” each pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote for the Southern District of New York to two counts of murder through the use of a firearm and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in connection with their participation in the May 24, 2024, murders of Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless and the non-fatal shooting of a third victim (“Victim-3”), all of whom were unarmed American citizens and residents of New York City.
A fifth codefendant and member of TdA, Jarwin Valero-Calderon, also known “La Fama,” pleaded guilty last week to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in connection with his participation in, among other crimes, a September 30, 2024, gunpoint carjacking in New York City.
Three additional codefendants previously pleaded guilty to other offenses and have been sentenced. All eight in-custody defendants charged in the TdA prosecution before Judge Cote have now been convicted.
“I’m thankful that the victims and their families finally get the justice they deserve,” said U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “Tren de Aragua is one of the most vicious gangs on planet earth.
They rape, maim, and murder for sport. Under President Trump’s leadership, we are targeting and removing gang members from our communities and ensuring those that committed crimes in our country face justice.”
“As they have now admitted, these four members of Tren de Aragua entered the United States illegally and then brutally murdered Claretha LaQuesha Daniels and Justin Lawless on May 24, 2024, in the middle of a residential street in the Bronx, which resulted in another victim being shot and injured,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York.
“This recent Memorial Day Sunday marked a tragic date: two years to the day that Ms. Daniels and Mr. Lawless lost their lives. We extend our deep condolences to the family members of these victims and hope that today’s guilty pleas bring some measure of comfort to them.
We are committed to investigating and charging all members of TdA who illegally entered this country and then flooded the streets of New York City with guns, drugs, sex trafficking, and violence. That is what New Yorkers want and deserve, and we will do everything we can to deliver it for them.”
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin tied the convictions directly to the administration’s enforcement push.
He said that under President Trump’s leadership, federal authorities are “targeting and removing gang members” from American communities while making sure criminals who acted inside the country face justice.
The pleas landed the same day Homeland Security put out a blunt message to anyone in the country illegally.
Let this be a warning: if you are in our nation illegally, we will find you, we will arrest you, and you will be REMOVED.
There are NO exceptions.
Go home today or be arrested: https://t.co/DU6I0tRVds https://t.co/nehXfPWWww
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 3, 2026
Clayton noted the grim timing. This past Memorial Day Sunday marked two years to the day since Daniels and Lawless were killed.
Director Jacob Warren of Joint Task Force Vulcan said the case fits the unit’s mission to eliminate TdA entirely. JTFV says it has charged more than 260 members and associates of MS-13 and TdA since it was created.
Sentencing is still ahead, and that decision belongs to the court. But the convictions are now on the books, and the men who brought guns, drugs, and murder onto a Bronx street are no longer pretending they didn’t.
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