Judge orders release of MS-13 member wanted for murder in El Salvador

U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta has ordered the release of David Antonio Aviles Perez, a 35-year-old Salvadoran national and alleged MS-13 member, from federal custody in California.

Aviles Perez, known in El Salvador as ‘La Bruja’ or ‘The Witch,’ was wanted internationally on an aggravated murder warrant. He was convicted in absentia in El Salvador for a 2014 gang killing in which the victim was reportedly forced to his knees before being shot. Aviles Perez had been in ICE custody since his arrest in San Diego in early 2026.

Judge Ohta ruled that the government violated Aviles Perez’s Fifth Amendment due-process rights by detaining him for five months without a bond hearing or an individualized determination regarding whether he posed a flight risk or a danger to the community. The judge barred immigration officials from re-arresting him unless a bail hearing is conducted.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticized the ruling, stating that the judge’s decision put American lives at risk by releasing a wanted murderer. Aviles Perez also has a prior arrest record in the United States, including a 2023 arrest in Monterey for allegedly attacking a man with a machete.