A few days ago, Tinayia Henderson talked about how sad it was that someone had killed her friend Mijal Conejero-Romera, 22, and Diego Alexander Woollett, 22, who was dating Mijal.
In a report from Washington, D.C.’s CBS affiliate WUSA on Tuesday, Mijal’s best friend Tinayia Henderson said, “She didn’t deserve this.” The murders on August 28 are still unsolved. “Every day it hurts to know that there’s no answer for her.” Diego doesn’t have an answer.
But deputies in Virginia’s Loudoun County say those answers just came to light.
Officers from the Alexandria Police Department saw 18-year-old Marlyn Medrano-Ortiz on the 4100 block of Mt. Vernon Avenue on Wednesday at about 6:01 p.m. They saw him in a police bulletin while looking for the suspect in the double murder and arrested him.
He is already being charged with second-degree murder and using a gun to commit a felony, but deputies say they will add more charges.
The police found out that Medrano-Ortiz was a member of the MS-13 gang.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman wrote, “This is still being investigated, and more charges will be brought in connection with the deaths of both victims.”
It happened in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 21000 block of Ridgetop Circle in the Sterling, D.C., area on August 28 at 4:33 a.m., and deputies were called.
“They found two people with gunshot wounds. Both were taken to a nearby hospital, where they were pronounced dead,” investigators disclosed. “They will not be named until their family members have been told.”
The victims were quickly named as Conejero-Romera and Woollett.
A months-long search began to find the person who did this.
Chapman said, “This investigation included many patrol units that checked over 320 homes and 30 businesses, as well as more than a dozen detectives and members of our Dive, K-9, Drone, and Search and Rescue Units.”
Forensic Examiners and Crime Analysts looked at over 950 hours of video, multiple cell phones and laptops, tower dumps, license plate readers, and other evidence. They used 39 search warrants and did other types of analysis as well.
In the Tuesday report, Henderson said great things about Mijal.
She said, “She did everything for her parents.” “She cared a lot about her family.”
He said that the last time he heard from her was through text message around 8 p.m. on the night of August 27, just hours before the murder. Mijal asked her how she was doing.
Henderson said of Mijal and Diego’s relationship, “They seemed so happy.” “She was treated like a princess, according to her family.”