Overview
- Judge Theresa Chernosky found Alonzo-Salgado guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, and participating in a criminal organization resulting in death.
- Alonzo-Salgado, 24, faces up to two life sentences plus 25 years at her Jan. 21, 2026 sentencing.
- Prosecutors say Rosa Sanchez Merino was taken from New Jersey to Olney in May 2023, gagged, forced to kneel, and fatally stabbed with a machete before being buried in a shallow grave.
- Investigators recovered Sanchez Merino’s remains four months later; an autopsy ruled homicide by sharp force injuries and clothing in the grave matched photos from before her disappearance.
- Co-defendant Roberto Rivera-Delgado pleaded guilty and led detectives to the burial site, while Aracely Abarca-Melgar awaits trial and a fourth participant remains unnamed due to being a juvenile at the time.