Bx. double-slay coverup
Killers burned 4 other cars to confuse investigators: DA
The gang members who murdered a pair of 22-year-olds and left their bodies in a burning car in the Bronx torched several additional vehicles across the city to throw investigators off their trail, according to prosecutors.
That new detail in the 2022 murders of Jesse Parrilla and Nikki Huang came out Wednesday at the Bronx Supreme Court arraignment of the killers’ alleged accomplice Rahul Cuya — who prosecutors say provided the getaway car.
Parrilla and Huang were casualties of a bloody rivalry between the Up the Hill and Down the Hill gangs, whose territory was split by a small “hill” in the road on Grand St. near Madison St. on the Lower East Side.
The victims’ bodies were found in the burning wreckage of a sedan parked on Shore Road near the Split Rock Golf Course in Pelham Bay, the Bronx, on May 16, 2022. Both were shot execution-style, according to authorities.
“The defendants went through great lengths to conceal their actions,” Assistant District Attorney Burim Namani said Wednesday.
Cuya and the murderers burned several cars in the aftermath of the slayings, including one car in the North Bronx, another vehicle — driven by Cuya — in the South Bronx, a third in lower Manhattan and a fourth elsewhere in the city, Namani said.
Cuya wore an orange jacket as he pleaded not guilty Wednesday. At one point, he looked back and stared at the victims’ family members — one of whom shouted out that he was a “bum.”
Justice Brenda Rivera ordered Cuya held without bail.
“I’m glad it’s moving forward. It’s almost two years, but it’s moving forward. It doesn’t bring my kid back, but it’s moving forward,” said Amy Chan, Huang’s mother. “We will be here for every court hearing. Whatever the case, we will be here.”
Huang used to work behind the counter of her family’s Chinese restaurant on Grand St., right on the dividing line between the two gang territories.
When she was held up and robbed of her purse, she sought out help from friends in the Up the Hill crew. That sparked an eight-hour stretch of horrific violence — starting with the murder of Brandon Atkinson, 39, who’s linked to Down the Hill through his half brother, sources said.
Lusting for revenge, Down the Hill members targeted Huang, kidnapping her when Parrilla, a longtime pal, dropped her off near her home, authorities said. They also grabbed Parrilla, though investigators believe he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Cuya is a member of the Block Boys gang, which is affiliated with Down the Hill, according to police, who said that he was present at the kidnapping.
Cops in March 2023 arrested another suspect, Jahmel Sanders, for the murders. A third suspect, Steven Santiago, remains at large.
One of Parrilla’s family members told The News that Cuya showed up at a 2023 memorial basketball game for their slain loved one. “We heard his name before, but we didn’t know. … When I saw yesterday at the precinct that Rahul was him, I was shocked,” she said.
Parrilla’s family runs an Instagram page devoted to seeking justice for his killing.
“It’s something I can never get over. It’s something I will have to live with and learn to live with it and try to make the best of it, ’cause I know that’s what he will want for me,” Parrilla’s mother, Michelle Morales, told The News on Wednesday. “The void can never be [filled], but his spirit will always live within me.”