Authorities in Honduras said today, March 20, 2024, that a preliminary hearing was held for the June 2023 murder and burning by the “18 Gang” (Pandilla 18) of at least 23 female prisoners inside a penitentiary. The weapons reportedly used in the attack were “rifles, submachine guns and a firearm belonging to the National Police, which were collected inside the penitentiary.” Other weapons were collected from outside the penitentiary.
Based on the account of the authorities, the events occurred around 7:45 am on June 20, 2023. The first act of the accused members of Pandilla 18 (who are also inmates) was to subdue four prison police officers, stripping them of the keys to the prison cells and prison population list.
Reportedly, members of Pandilla 18 forced the prison officers “to lie face down and then locked them inside module 6 to proceed to enter the other spaces where the rest of the prison population was.”
Explaining the coordinated, planned event, the authorities added:
While this was happening, another group of prisoners from gang 18 went to modules 1 to 4, where the women who belong to the Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) were located, hitting the padlocks of the modules with a hammer until they gained entry.
The accused and their companions disabled the security cameras of the prison and as a result of planning and acting together, they surprisingly proceeded to kill 23 prisoners.
The authorities continued:
Meanwhile, 23 other inmates, upon hearing the detonations of weapons, in an attempt to save their lives, closed home number 1 of module 1, to prevent their attackers from entering. However, when they saw that they could not enter, they sprayed a flammable liquid and they set them on fire.
The victims could not leave the site, since the accused shot them from outside, which caused them to lose their lives, some burned and others asphyxiated by inhalation of carbon monoxide.
Members of Pandilla 18 allegedly responsible for the massacre are Claudia María Lemus Aceituno, Lesbia Ondina Rodríguez Orellana, Cherry Darling Guevara, Heidy Jackeline Palma Rivera, Karen Lorena Ávila Pavón, Leyla Rosmeri Figueroa Pavón, Susana Godoy Leiva, and Francis Margarita Chavarría Ávila, all of whom are currently in prison. They are charged with conspiracy to commit a crime, murder, murder in the degree of execution of an unfinished attempt, qualified arson, illegal possession of a prohibited firearm and possession of a permitted firearm.
