‘Uneasy’ feeling after Junior slay
A Trinitarios turncoat told jurors Tuesday that he had an “uneasy” feeling after it became clear that the terrified teen his crew killed outside a Bronx bodega was not part of a rival gang.
Shortly after Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, 15, was slashed and stabbed to death June 20, 2018, the gang members accused of murdering the boy gathered at a leader’s home to try to identify the victim from a group photo they had of their rivals.
“They were trying to figure out who it was that they had just finished,” said Kevin Alvarez, a witness who said he participated in the beating but not the murder.
“I didn’t see the person that had just finished getting stabbed there. When I looked at it, I didn’t see the kid that we just chased and stabbed.”
Alvarez, 19, said the photo they saw at the home of Trinitarios Los Sures leader Diego Suero was of about 30 men from rival gang Sunset.
Junior wasn’t in the photo. Alvarez said he left the house.
“I didn’t want to be there,” Alvarez told jurors in Bronx Supreme Court. “I guess I just didn’t agree with what had happened.”
Alvarez said the day after the slaying, Suero messaged him and others, saying “we should all stay hidden” and telling them he was trying to gather cash to rent a hideout in New Jersey.
Alvarez pleaded guilty last month to manslaughter and conspiracy in exchange for testifying. But he’ll have a life of looking over his shoulder.
“You are no longer good to the gang,” Alvarez said. “They go out and look for you in groups until they find you and kill you.”
Junior was dragged by a group of men from a Bathgate Ave. bodega near 183rd St. in Tremont and hacked with a machete on the sidewalk in what police and prosecutors believe was a case of mistaken identity. The teen stumbled to nearby St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.
Charged with murder in the case are Jose Muñiz, Antonio Rodriguez, Hernandez Santiago, Elvin Garcia, Jonaiki Martinez Estrella and Manuel Rivera. Among other charges are manslaughter, conspiracy and gang assault. They face life in prison if convicted.
The murder drew national attention after video was released showing Junior being dragged out of the store and stabbed and slashed. The #JusticeForJunior hashtag went viral, and put a national spotlight on gang violence.