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One the 10 defendants in the killing of a 15-year-old from Langley Park pleaded guilty in court Thursday to "participating in gang activity resulting in death," Montgomery County's first prosecution under a 2007 state law intended to stiffen punishment for gang members.

Joel Lovo-Reyes, 28, of Bladensburg had originally been charged with first-degree murder and other charges after his arrest in May for the stabbing death of Dennys Guzman-Saenz.

In Montgomery County Circuit Court, prosecutors said Lovo-Reyes watched others in the group "kicking, hitting and stabbing" Guzman-Saenz on Jan. 18 at Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg. Police and prosecutors have said that Guzman-Saenz was stabbed 72 times and left in a creek.

The night of the stabbing, Lovo-Reyes was waiting at a Germantown apartment after a meeting of the 18th Street gang, while four other gang members went to Hyattsville to find a member of the violent gang Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13 — 18th Street's "arch-nemesis," Assistant State's Attorney Jeffrey Wennar said.

Guzman-Saenz was not an MS-13 member but had friends who were, police says.

Judge Louise G. Scrivener delayed Lovo-Reyes's sentencing until December. The charge carries a 20-year maximum sentence.

Lovo-Reyes's lawyer, David Felsen, said Lovo-Reyes did not ride in the car that took Guzman-Saenz to Malcolm King Park.

Lovo-Reyes is the second of the 10 defendants to plead to a lesser charge. Ana Abarca, 18, of Reston, Va., pleaded guilty earlier this month to "accessory after the fact," which carries a five-year maximum sentence. Six others were indicted June 18 for first-degree murder and other charges. The other two face unrelated charges in other jurisdictions — one a murder charge in Washington, D.C., and the other assault charges in Massachusetts.