Police arrest 3 in double murder of Maryland teens

Three people have been arrested and charged with the murder of two Maryland teens who were killed the night before their high school graduation, Montgomery County Police Chief Tom Manger announced Saturday night.

The suspects were identified as Jose Canales-Yanez, 25, Roger Garcia, 19, and Edgar Garcia-Gaona, 24. Garcia and Garcia-Gaona are brothers, Manger said.

Each suspect is being charged with two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. It is unclear if they have lawyers.

Shadi Adi Najjar, 17, and Artem Ziberov, 18, were found shot dead the night of June 5 in a parked car on a residential street in Montgomery Village, about 23 miles north of Washington, D.C., police said. They were set to graduate from Northwest High School in Germantown the next day.

One teen was shot 10 times, while the other was shot four times, Capt. Darren Francke, director of Major Crimes for the Montgomery County Police Department, said at a press conference Friday. More than 30 casings from multiple guns were found at the scene, police said.

Manger said police learned from friends of Najjar that he was rumored to have robbed Canales-Yanez's girlfriend last December, and was killed in retaliation. He added that, "we're unsure right now if there was a motive to kill Ziberov as well, or if he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

At what would have been their graduation ceremony, a moment of silence was held for the slain teenagers. The principal said he planned to deliver the teenagers' diplomas to their parents.

The police investigation is ongoing.