LEESBURG, Va. — A 20-year-old man was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting and killing two people at a Sterling apartment complex in August 2024.
Marlyn Samuel Medrano Ortiz was sentenced in Loudoun County Circuit Court on two counts of second-degree murder, according to the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.
The Honorable Judge James P. Fisher imposed an 80-year sentence with 50 years suspended.
The suspended portion is conditioned on successful completion of five years of probation.
Loudoun County sheriff’s deputies responded to a suspicious person report near the 21000 block of Huntington Square around 4:30 a.m. Aug. 28, 2024.
They found Diego Woollett and Mijal Conejero with gunshot wounds.
Both later died at a hospital.
Investigators determined that Woollett and Conejero had been driving around the apartment complex, where they both lived, during the previous night and early morning.
A neighbor awakened by repeated car honking later heard yelling near a picnic table in the parking lot and saw the pair walking into the apartment complex, prosecutors said.
Medrano Ortiz was seated at the table with several other members of MS-13’s Villa Satelite clique, according to prosecutors.
Around 4:20 a.m., Woollett and Conejero left their apartment, drove to a nearby gas station and returned.
They later walked toward the picnic area, where Medrano Ortiz confronted them, prosecutors said.
Medrano Ortiz claimed Woollett punched him and Conejero used a stun gun on him during a physical altercation.
He then shot both at close range, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Detectives found a kitchen knife, a stun gun and a folding knife with a pistol-shaped handle near where the victims were found.
Prosecutors determined the shootings were not justified under applicable self-defense principles.
Before imposing the sentence, Fisher rejected Medrano Ortiz’s claim that he feared for his safety.
“The level of violence was shocking,” Fisher said. “I do not believe you were in danger or thought you were in danger.”
State sentencing guidelines recommended a prison term ranging from 15 years and five months to 25 years and nine months.
Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Boyle requested an 80-year prison term, citing the close-range shootings and a rap song Medrano Ortiz recorded with two other MS-13 members hours before the killings.
Prosecutors said the lyrics included threats of violence and claims of control over the Sterling neighborhood.
In addition to his prison sentence, Medrano Ortiz also must pay restitution to the Virginia Victims Fund and have no contact with known street gang members.
