A 29-year-old Silver Spring man has been sentenced to ten years in prison for the 2024 killing of his 19-year-old brother-in-law, whose body was discovered in a wooded area behind a bus stop on Piney Branch Road.
On Tuesday, October 27, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge David Lease sentenced Abraham Luna Perez, who was convicted by a jury on August 4, 2026, of voluntary manslaughter in the death of Diego Edilberto Borja Cardona.
Montgomery County Police officers discovered Borja Cardona’s body on October 22, 2024, in a wooded area behind a bus stop in the 9300 block of Piney Branch Road. An autopsy determined that he died from blunt force trauma to the head and had been struck at least four times.
According to prosecutors, Luna Perez and Borja Cardona lived together with a juvenile roommate in an apartment on Quebec Terrace, near where the body was discovered. On October 19, 2024, the roommate witnessed a brief altercation between the two men before Borja Cardona went to sleep in his bedroom.
The roommate later received a text message from Luna Perez stating that he planned to kill Borja Cardona. The roommate reported seeing Luna Perez enter the victim’s bedroom and hearing several loud noises. Luna Perez then exited the room and told the roommate that Borja Cardona was dead.
According to prosecutors, Luna Perez instructed the roommate to help move the victim’s body to the wooded area behind the nearby bus stop, where it was discovered three days later.
Deputy State’s Attorney Ryan Wechsler and Assistant State’s Attorney Kimberly Cissel prosecuted the case.
