Four teens killed in a month on Long Island

BRENTWOOD, N.Y. • Four teenagers from Brentwood High School on Long Island have been found dead within the past month, all suspected victims of gang violence triggered by something as trivial as the colour of their clothes.

While police are releasing few details about their investigation, students are saying they’re afraid to walk alone in their community and school administrators are warning students not to wear clothing that could risk offending vicious street thugs.

A law enforcement official said the Salvadoran gang MS-13 is suspected, although police have not made arrests.

Brentwood school officials said a freshman walking to a bus stop with a light blue T-shirt in his hand was stopped last week by a group in a car. The driver demanded the shirt, which was set on fire; the student was told not to wear that colour again.

Curtis Sliwa, founder of the New York City-based Guardian Angels, a neighbourhood patrol group that has now started patrols in Brentwood, said blue is an MS-13 colour.

Monique Darrisaw-Akil, assistant superintendent for secondary education, conceded that “students sometimes get involved in things that are not in their best interest or in the best interest of the school community, so we try to be as proactive, and provide interventions.”

One Brentwood teen who wouldn’t give his name, saying he feared gang retaliation, said many students are nervous.

“They don’t play around. If they don’t like you and if you do something to them, they will come after you,” he said. “I’m not going to walk anywhere. We’re definitely more cautious about that. I don’t go out at night anymore.”

Like many suburban areas, Long Island has become a home to street gangs. At least 30 people have been killed by MS-13 gang members on Long Island since 2010.

In one particularly heinous killing, four MS-13 gangsters were convicted in the 2010 killing of a Long Island woman and her toddler son. Prosecutors say the mother had allegedly shown disrespect to the gang. Her child was murdered simply because he was with her.

Nisa Mickens’ brutally beaten body was found on a tree-lined street Sept. 13, the day before her 16th birthday. A day later, the beaten body of 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas was discovered in the backyard of a nearby home. The teenagers had been inseparable, lifelong friends who shared an interest in basketball.

Days later, police discovered the skeletal remains of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta and 15-year-old Miguel Garcia-Moran in a remote industrial area of Brentwood. Acosta had been missing since May, and Garcia-Moran vanished in February.

Alexis Portillo, 16, was devastated when he learned of the killings: “Like, who else is going to be next, you know?”