In the Brightwood neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on the evening of November 7, 2017, 16-year-old Yoselis Regino Barrios was fatally wounded in a double shooting. The incident occurred at approximately 8:15 p.m. in an alley in the 1300 block of Rittenhouse Street NW, near his home. When police arrived at the scene, they discovered Barrios and an adult male both suffering from gunshot wounds. Both victims were transported to a local hospital, where Barrios was pronounced dead.
The second victim survived his injuries, which were described as non-life-threatening.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led authorities to suspect a connection to local gang activity, rattling the community. Detectives began exploring the possibility that the homicide was linked to another fatal shooting that occurred the following day at a nearby market. This second shooting claimed the life of 22-year-old Jonathan Vilchez. According to court documents, the suspects in Barrios's murder were affiliated with a street gang called STC, or Street Thug Criminals, which has roots in El Salvador. Authorities believed the violence stemmed from an internal dispute within the gang. However, Yoselis's family maintained that he was not involved in any gang activity and believed he may have been mistaken for someone else. A cousin of the victim told reporters that the family knew the suspects and that the dispute was over money, asserting that Yoselis 'was not involved in any of it'.
In the weeks following the shooting, the investigation led to the identification and arrest of two suspects. On November 22, 2017, a regional fugitive task force apprehended 20-year-old Kevin Sorto, charging him with first-degree murder while armed. Subsequently, on November 30, police arrested a second suspect, 17-year-old Victor Hernandez of Hyattsville, Maryland. Hernandez was also charged as an adult with first-degree murder while armed. According to court documents, a witness reported seeing Sorto on an Instagram Live video shortly after the shooting, allegedly bragging about the incident. The investigation also involved tracking a red car seen leaving the area of the homicide. Both Sorto and Hernandez were held in custody following their arrests as the legal proceedings against them commenced.
