BEDFORD, Va. – A capital murder trial is underway for a Lynchburg teen who was killed in 2017.
Kevin Soto-Bonilla is one of the six men who’s been charged in connection with Raymond Wood’s death. Soto-Bonilla is facing the death penalty.
Bedford County investigators found Wood’s body on Roaring Run Road in March of 2017.
The Commonwealth spent the last few hours of the trial tying Soto-Bonilla to the MS-13 gang.
Soto-Bonilla is charged with capital murder, robbery, abduction and gang participation.
To prove the gang charge, the Commonwealth brought in a man from Maryland named Danny Ventura, who says he’s an MS-13 gang member. Ventura explained the role he and Soto-Bonilla allegedly played in the organization.
Media were not allowed to record Ventura’s testimony, for he was brought in as an informant.
The jury heard from Wood’s mother, who found her son’s body. They also saw clothes, drugs and photos of the 17-year-old’s mutilated body.
Shortly after, jury members asked to be excused for a few minutes to regroup.
“The body was partially clothed. It was missing a hand on the right arm and multiple gashes in its neck,” Sgt. Chance Zimmerman said.
“These are the gray sweatpants that were recovered from the 1700 block of Roaring Road,” said John Maddox, an investigator with Bedford County Sheriff’s Office. “Green plant material that I recovered from the road.”
The trial will continue Friday and is expected to last for the next two weeks as more witnesses take the stand.