The president said he would “liberate” Long Island, and he caused controversy when he told officers “don’t be too nice” when arresting suspects.
A third suspect has been charged with murder in the death of a Long Island man who police said was lured into to a car with promises of marijuana and sex only to be killed by MS-13 members hoping to boost their stature in the ruthless street gang.
Laura Christina Campos, 28, was arrested on murder charges in the death of Julio Cesar Gonzales-Espantzay, 28-year-old Valley Stream man whose body was discovered in March. Carlos Portillo, 22, and Kevin Granados-Coreas, 19, were both previously arrested in the brutal January slaying.
After the first two arrests, authorities said that Gonzales-Espantzay was killed by a larger group; it's not clear if authorities think there are additional suspects in his death.
Authorities said that after the first death that Granados-Coreas befriended the Gonzales-Espantzay in his Valley Stream neighborhood in late 2016. They said the victim was not a gang member but was lured into a car on Jan. 28 and taken to the Massapequa Preserve, where he was stabbed and slashed to death with knives and machetes by members of the gang.
His body was found nearly two months later by a man walking his dog.
Gonzales-Espantzay's death and those of at least 20 other people in Nassau and Suffolk counties have drawn the attention of federal authorities and President Donald Trump, who tweeted and spoke on efforts to stamp out MS-13 on Long Island.
MS-13, or the Mara Salvatrucha, is believed by federal prosecutors to have thousands of members across the U.S., primarily immigrants from Central America. It has a stronghold in Los Angeles, where it emerged in the 1980s as a neighborhood street gang, but also has wreaked violence in cities and suburbs across the United States.
