The Washington area has been shocked by two crimes in the area by teenagers who showed an utter lack of humanity or emotion against helpless victims.  In Fairfax, Venus Romero Iraheta, 17, murdered a 15-year-old girl but stopped just long enough to tell her to remember her name for when they meet in hell.  She was convicted this week in the murder.  In Baltimore, six teens savagely attacked an elderly man, stole his car, and then ran over the man.  In all of these cases, the mugshots show seemingly youthful innocent faces of young people who appear devoid of the most elemental feelings of empathy for other human beings.

IVenus Romero Iraheta pleaded guilty to the murder of Damaris Alexandra Reyes Rivas as part of the MS-13 street gang, which continues to terrorize many (particularly Latino families) in Northern Virginia.  As the girl laid on the ground, Iraheta told Reyes Rivas:

“’You’re going to remember me until the day we see each other in hell. Don’t forget my name.’ And I told her my full name and I told her my nickname. And I told it to her and I told her to ‘never forget who I was.’ I told her ‘someday, we were going to see each other again.’”

She then stabbed Rivas more than a dozen times.  She added “I left the knife in her neck.”

Reyes Rivas was a student at Watkins Mill High School in Gaithersburg, Md. Iraheta blamed Reyes Rivas for the death of her boyfriend, Christian.  Reyes Rivas was forced to walk through the snow without her shoes and shirt. Iraheta then sliced a tattoo off Reyes Rivas’ hand that Christian had given to her.  She was then taken further into the woods where she was stabbed to death.

In Baltimore, Cindy Blanco Hernandez, 19, Aldair J. Miranda Carcamo, 18, and Emerson Fugon Lopez, 17, pleaded guilty in the brutal attack on 69-year-old Jim Willinghan.  They also pleaded guilty to gang involvement.  Four teens have been arrested — Darian Maurice Hicks, 16; Taizjuan Eliza Waddell, 16; and Kimani William Graham, 16 — earlier in the week for the January 3 attack.