A suspect wanted for a 2011 murder in New Jersey has been added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and could be living in Maryland or Northern Virginia, the FBI said.
Walter Yovany Gomez is the 513th person to be added to the list, authorities announced on Wednesday.
The FBI says Gomez, a member of the MS-13 gang, and a co-conspirator in Plainfield, New Jersey struck Julio Matute in the head with an aluminum baseball bat, sliced his throat and stabbed him in the back 17 times with a screwdriver because he was suspected of socializing with a rival gang. The co-conspirator was convicted in Matute's slaying.
When police tried to arrest Gomez, he jumped out of a window and ran off, the FBI said. An investigation revealed Gomez had driven to Maryland with help from other MS-13 members.
MS-13 has been linked to several murders in recent months, including the killing of a 15-year-old girl. The FBI said there are thousands of MS-13 members in the D.C. area.
"He [Gomez] would probably be considered a higher-ranking member of the gang now," FBI Special Agent Dan Brunner said.
The FBI doesn't believe that Gomez, a Honduran citizen, has fled the country. He may have remained in the D.C. area, the FBI said, not ruling out the posibility that Gomez may have returned to New Jersey.
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The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to Gomez's arrest.
Since the inception of the most wanted list in 1950, 481 fugitives have been apprehended or located.
