A Washington, D.C., man charged with nine others in the alleged gang killing of a Langley Park teenager was charged last month in the stabbing death of a District man.
Daniel Abizai Zabala, 26, of the 1300 block of Randolph Street NW, was charged June 5 with first-degree murder in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, a week after a witness identified him as the assailant in the May 10 stabbing death of 20-year-old Julio Palestino-Lascarez, according to police affidavits.
Metro police found Palestino-Lascarez lying on the ground in the 3500 block of 14th St. NW, suffering from multiple stab wounds, according to the records. Metropolitan Police found a 10-inch knife near his body.
Zabala was arrested that morning and charged with assault for his alleged role in a gang-related knife attack that occurred an hour before and a block away from Palestino-Lascarez's stabbing, court records say.
During Zabala's questioning, Metro police discovered that a Montgomery County warrant named him as a suspect in the gruesome death of Dennys Alfredo Guzman-Saenz, 15, who was abducted from a bus stop Jan. 18, taken to Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg and stabbed 72 times.
County officials say that Guzman-Saenz's assailants, members of the 18th Street gang, kidnapped and killed him because they thought he was a member of the rival gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13. Witness who pointed Metro police to Zabala in the District killing said the victim was a member of MS-13, according to court records.
Zabala's preliminary hearing on the District charge is set for July 10. Montgomery County intends to prosecute him if he comes into their custody, said Emily White, spokeswoman for State's Attorney John McCarthy.
County officials have spelled his name Zavala in arrest warrants, court documents and press releases. "Zavala" is listed as an alias for Zabala in the D.C. online court database. White said she was not aware of the discrepancy.