Drug ringleader gets life for torture, murder of Georgia mother

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. (WTVC) — A drug ringleader charged with the murder of a woman in Georgia more than two years ago recently pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison.

Edwin Murillo was one of the 14 people accused of kidnapping, torturing and murdering 37-year-old Rossana Delgado in 2021.

Delgado’s body was found Apr. 20, 2021, just days after she had been reported missing.

An investigation revealed that she had been kidnapped at the Plaza Fiesta shopping mall in DeKalb County several days before, then bound and tortured at several locations in Clayton and Gilmer Counties.

Police believe Delgado was murdered after a relationship with a prison drug broker “collapsed.”

Right as Murillo's trial was set to begin, he pleaded guilty to murder, kidnapping and a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, also known as RICO. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison.

Murillo, who was connected to a drug cartel in Mexico, was already serving a federal sentence for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

Several other defendants, including Mario Alberto Barbosa-Juarez, Carolina Jazmin Rodriguez Ramirez, and Maria Katherine Encarnacion, pleaded guilty to charges related to the murder and were sentenced earlier this year.