Machete gang’s lame apology to vic’s kin: WE KILLED WRONG KID
Admits error in Facebook post Ma rips 5 fiends in Bronx attack
Members of a murderous street gang apologized for the savage killing of a 15-year-old Bronx boy, saying they mistook the teen for someone else, the victim's family said Saturday.
A relative of Lesandro (Junior) Guzman-Feliz said he got several mea culpa Facebook messages from men who said they were members of the Trinitarios, a Dominican gang.
The supposed gang members said they killed Lesandro in error, said the teen's brother-in-law Derek Grullon.
“They said, ‘We had the wrong person,' ” said Grullon, 19.
Grullon said his wife, who is Lesandro's sister, got similar messages.
Cops were investigating Saturday the possibility that the killing was somehow related to a sex tape circulating on social media, which shows a teen boy rapping, while a second teen boy has sex with a teen girl whose face is covered with a shirt.
Grullon said the messages he received were aimed at clearing Lesandro's name.
Five men jumped and killed Lesandro around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday outside the Cruz and Chiky Grocery store on the corner of E. 183rd St. and Bathgate Ave. in Belmont. Video showed the men stabbing Lesandro repeatedly with machetes.
Lesandro's mom, Leandra Feliz, 38, spent much of Saturday praying as she tried to cope with the loss of her son.
“A little kid, alone with no weapon. Five men with machetes came for one little kid,” she said, sitting on a couch in their living room where her son often played video games. “These are men, not kids.”
Feliz said if she met the killers, she'd ask: “Why did you kill my son? My son is a good boy. He doesn't even know how to fight.”
Feliz said her son's dream was to be a police officer. “He was one of the good kids in the Bronx. He liked to play PlayStation, he liked pizza, he liked Dave & Busters,” she said.
Lesandro was a member of the Explorers, an NYPDsponsored club mainly composed of high school students who receive mentoring and encouragement from cops.
“He has never been in any fight, never, in 15 years,” his mother said.
Hundreds of angry social media posts called for Lesandro's killers to be brought to justice.
A GoFundMe page, “Justice for Junior,” had raised $50,000 for Lesandro's family by Saturday afternoon — above its goal of $15,000. The donations came from 2,347 people.
No one has been arrested, and no one is in custody, police said.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea and Chief of Department Terence Monahan pledged late Friday to catch the killers.
“He was never going to give up on his dream of being an NYPD detective & WE'LL NEVER GIVE UP ON HIM,” Shea wrote on Twitter with the JusticeForJunior hashtag.
The NYPD released photos of the men suspected of stabbing Lesandro. Cops also released a photo of a white vehicle and a dark-colored sedan at least two of the suspects were seen entering.
Anyone with information can call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. Calls are confidential.