A 19-year-old gang member who has been accused along with nine of his fellow gang members of stabbing a 15-year-old boy to death in the Bronx looked like he taunted prosecutors in court on Monday with a true-crime book that delineated a prosecutor’s murder.
In June 2018, 14 members of the “Los Sures” subset of the Trinitarios gang apparently mistakenly thought Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, 15, was a member of rival gang “Sunset.” In 2018, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said, “They allegedly drove to the territory of the Sunset group, came upon Junior and chased him into a bodega in the Belmont section, where he tried to hide.” The gang members then allegedly dragged Guzman-Feliz, who wanted to be a policeman, out of a convenience store, stabbed him repeatedly, and ran away, leaving the boy to try to run to St. Barnabas Hospital but then collapse and die one block from the hospital.
NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said the suspects were found because of the public’s “unrivaled help” and an “outpouring of nonstop assistance.”
On Monday, Kevin Alvarez, 19, whom prosecutors believe was the assailant dragging Guzman-Feliz out of the store, appeared in court, carrying a copy of the book “In Plain Sight: The Kaufman County Prosecutor Murders” behind his back and appearing as if he was flashing the title toward prosecutors. Nine of the 13 other suspects were also due in court on Monday, but only three agreed to come. The others waived their right to have an appearance before a judge.
The book Alvarez carried recounts the true story of the murders of Kaufman County, Texas, Assistant District Attorney Mark Hasse and District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, in 2013, by Eric Lyle Williams, a former lawyer who had been prosecuted by the two attorneys for theft. Hasse was shot while he was walking from his car to the courthouse on January 31; on March 30 the bodies of Mike McLelland and his wife were found in their home; both had been shot to death. Williams was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in December 2014; he is still awaiting execution.
Guzman-Feliz was a member of the NYPD Explorers’ Program, which is for a group for children interested in becoming police officers. The New York Daily News reported that his mother appeared in court on Monday, saying, ‘I want justice for Junior. I hope they give them 300 years.’
AM New York reported the fourteen suspects in the murder of Guzman-Feliz are:
- Frederick Then, 20, of Reading, Pennsylvania: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Ronald Urena, 29, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Luis A. Cabrera Santos, 25, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Danilo Payamps Pacheco, 21, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, 26, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Diego Suero, 29, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Jose Muniz, 21, of the Bronx: Charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Jose Taverez, 21, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Jonaiki Martinez-Estrella, 24, of Freeport: Charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Danel Fernandez, 21, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Manuel Rivera, 18, of the Bronx: Charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Antonio Hernandez-Santiago, 24, of the Bronx: Charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Elvin Garcia, 23, of Manhattan: Charged with first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
- Kevin Alvarez, 19, of the Bronx: Charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, conspiracy, gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon.
