Five alleged Trinitarios gang members pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter charges in the death of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz in the Bronx four years ago.
The five men are the most recent to be convicted in the horrific, caught-on-camera slaying of the innocent 15-year-old in a Bronx bodega on June 20, 2018, which shocked New York City.
On Wednesday, Ronald Urena, Luis Cabrera Santos, 29, Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, 30, and Danilo Payamps Pacheco, 26, pleaded guilty. On Nov. 16, a fifth defendant, Jose Tavarez, 26, pleaded guilty, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.
The men were among 14 “Los Sures” Trinitarios gang members who pursued and dragged Guzman-Feliz out of a Belmont bodega. Prosecutors said five other gang members repeatedly stabbed and slashed the teen with knives and a machete, killing him.
Guzman-assassins Feliz’s mistook him for a member of a rival gang, but the boy was just an innocent teenager.
His mother, Leandra Feliz, demanded that his son’s killers be brought to justice, launching a “Justice for Junior” campaign that quickly spread across the country, along with the horrifying video of his murder.
The five men will be sentenced to prison terms ranging from 12 to 15 years, followed by post release supervision as part of their plea agreements, according to the district attorney’s office.
Several of Guzman-Feliz’s more than a dozen attackers have already been convicted and sentenced.
The five men who hacked him to death were convicted of first-degree murder by a jury in 2019 and are serving sentences ranging from life without parole to 23 years to life.
“Los Sures” leader Diego Suero and his second-in-command Frederick Then, who ordered their followers to commit violence against the “Sunset” subset of the Trinitarios the night the teen was butchered, were both found guilty of second-degree murder and are serving sentences ranging from 25 to life in prison.
source:nsemwokrom.com
