Maryland woman accused in $1,000 murder-for-hire plot to kill her ex

A woman from Germantown, Maryland, and a woman from Philadelphia were charged for an alleged murder-for-hire plot targeting the Maryland woman's ex-boyfriend, according to police.

Adelaida Zacarias Chacon, 53, and her boyfriend lived in a Germantown townhouse together, but when he left her for another woman, she decided to hire a hitman, police said. She turned to a woman described as an ex-sister-in-law from Philadelphia, 40-year-old Reyna Gomez Lopez, for help.

On June 28, a case worker at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Family Justice Center contacted detectives, according to court documents. Zacarias Chacon had admitted to the center she paid Gomez Lopez $1,000 to hire two hitmen from Philadelphia, court documents say. But Zacarias Chacon then suspected Gomez Lopez scammed her and was not planning to carry out the job.

During the investigation, detectives spoke to Zacarias Chacon and seized her iPhone, police said. They found communications between Zacarias Chacon and Gomez Lopez detailing their plan.

“During the investigation they were able to find evidence of money that was transferred from the Montgomery County suspect to the Philadelphia suspect,” said Shiera Goff of Montgomery County police.

In one text, Zacarias Chacon told Gomez Lopez to make sure the Philadelphia hitmen “wear masks and have gloves” when they show up at a false “landscaping job” set up to meet with the victim, court documents say. In another, she said she wishes “he doesn’t move anymore.”

Gomez Lopez actually did ask someone she knew if he was available to break someone’s head, court documents say. He declined to participate.

Both women were taken into custody by Montgomery County officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Forces.

Zacarias Chacon is charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and first-degree solicitation to commit murder. She is being held at the Central Processing Unit awaiting a bond hearing.

Gomez Lopez is charged with first-degree conspiracy to commit murder and is awaiting extradition to Montgomery County.