Months after a member of a notorious gang was arrested in connection with a 2007 murder of a man in unincorporated Broward County, authorities have identified a second suspect in the killing.
Jose Stanley Cuellar Pineda was 35 years old when he was shot to death on Jan. 14, 2007, near the 4300 block of Southwest 25th Street, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said. Cuellar Pineda rode to the area in a 1996 beige Toyota with suspects Jairo Jonathan Aguilar-Arevalo, who is at large, and Sergio Kadafi Perera-Marenco, who was arrested in February.
One of the two suspects walked away after getting out of the car while the other shot Cuellar Pineda to death, and both fled the scene. The Sheriff’s Office has not released further details about the murder or a motive.
The case went cold until BSO Cold Case Unit detectives, the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection reopened it in December 2021.
All three men were believed to be members of MS-13, the Mara Salvatrucha 13 gang, the Sheriff’s Office said. The U.S. Department of Justice describes the MS-13 as “a violent street gang that operates as a transnational criminal organization” in the U.S., El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico.
The DOJ said in a recent report on the group that the gang has committed murders, extortion crimes, arms and drug trafficking, assaults, rapes, robberies and kidnappings and human trafficking in the country. A map included in the report shows South Florida as one of the regions where the gang has established a presence, meaning one or more gang members in the area with or without criminal activity.
Originally from El Salvador, Aguilar-Arevalo, who is also known as “Satanas,” is now 37 years old. The Sheriff’s Office said he worked as a roofer and lived in the Oakland Park area. At the time of the murder, he was no taller than 5-feet-2-inches and had short, wavy hair.
Without releasing details, the Sheriff’s Office said they identified Perera-Marenco, now 35 years old, as one of the suspects during their investigation. He was arrested Feb. 27 near the 600 block of Southwest 30th Terrace in Fort Lauderdale, not far from where Cuellar Pineda was murdered.
Perera-Marenco was initially arrested on a first-degree murder charge that has since been dropped. The arrest warrant in the case is sealed. Broward County court records show Perera-Marenco was then charged with accessory after the fact and was sentenced in July to three years’ probation with a condition that he “must testify truthfully consistent with his previous statement” given to prosecutors.
Anyone with information regarding Aguilar-Arevalo’s location is asked to contact BSO Cold Case Unit Det. Andrew Gianino at 954-321-4376 or submit a tip through the SaferWatch App. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477), online at browardcrimestoppers.org or by dialing **TIPS (8477) from any cellphone.
