Santiago Villalba Mederos

Mederos was born on June 5, 1991 and is an alleged murderer and gang member from the state of Washington. He was just an 18-year-old teenager when he allegedly killed and wounded multiple people on different occasions in Washington in 2010.[6] He is a member of the Eastside Lokotes Sureños (ELS) gang, a violent gang based in Washington. Mederos is described as Hispanic, 5 feet 10 and 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He has a tattoo of the letter “S” on his left shoulder and a tattoo of the letter “E” on his right shoulder. He speaks fluent English and Spanish.[7]

On February 7, 2010, Mederos and six other gang members from the ELS were out driving a stolen van through Tacoma, Washington in search for rival gang members. They were after the gang in retaliation for a shooting that had occurred two days earlier in which an ELS member was badly wounded. They came across 20-year-old Camille Love and her brother 19-year-old Josh Love. Camille was driving while Josh was sat in the passenger seat of the vehicle. They had just left a family dinner and were driving to a friend's house. The siblings were stopped at a traffic light and were inside a red car. Josh was wearing a red coat, and red was the color associated with the rival gang. Mistaking Josh for a rival gang member, Mederos and at least one other gang member opened fire into the vehicle. They fatally shot Camille and seriously wounded Josh. Josh was shot twice and was hit in the arm and on his side. Neither Josh or Camille were associated with any gang.[8]

On March 25, 2010, Mederos and another gang member ransacked a car in an apparent robbery in a South Tacoma alley. They suspected the owner of the car owed the gang money. The duo then got into a fight with three other men who confronted them. Mederos shot at the group of people as he fled on foot and fatally shot 25-year-old Saul Lucas-Alfonso. Lucas-Alfonso again was not associated with any gang.[9]

The leader of the Eastside Lokotes Sureños, Juan Zuniga-Gonzalez, was blamed for the murders. The death of Love led to a crackdown from the Tacoma Police Department against the ELS. Unhappy with Zuniga's leadership and the unwanted attention from Love's murder, four members of the gang who were in prison at the time ordered the murder of Zuniga-Gonzalez.[10] On May 12, 2010, Zuniga-Gonzalez was murdered at his home in Tacoma. 15-year-old Naitaalii Toleafoa and 17-year-old Juan Ortiz drove to Zuniga's home. Ortiz fatally shot Zuniga in the back of the head in his garage.[11] Both suspects then fled to Mexico after the assassination. Toleafoa was captured in 2012 and Ortiz was arrested in Mexico City in August 2016. Both were extradited from Mexico to stand trial for the murder.[12]

Mederos and six other ELS gang members were charged in Love's murder.[13] Five of the six others have now been captured and are serving prison sentences ranging from 12 to 75 years.[14] ELS gang member Richard Charles Sanchez is the only member still on the run. According to the FBI, Mederos was believed to have fled to Mexico after the murders. Authorities also believed he may have returned to the U.S. since. Mederos had family in the Las Grutas, Guerrero and Cuernavaca areas of Mexico. Mederos was charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Jesus Mederos, the older brother of Santiago Mederos, was arrested in May 2017 in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Jesus was responsible for the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Robert Tapia at a Tacoma intersection in October 2006. After the murder he fled to Mexico and spent 12 years on the run before being captured.[15] The FBI hoped the arrest of Santiago's brother would help in finding him.[16] A reward of $100,000 was offered by the FBI for information that led to the arrest and extradition of Mederos.[17]

Mederos was arrested on his 29th birthday on June 5, 2020. According to the FBI, he was captured in Tenancingo, Mexico, near Mexico City. He was flown to Los Angeles to face a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.[18][19][20]

• List of fugitives from justice who are no longer sought