Two more suspects have been arrested in connection with the machete killing of 15-year-old Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz. Michael George reports.
What to Know
- A high-ranking member of the Trinitarios street gang has been taken into custody in the killing of Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman-Feliz
- The teenager, known as Junior, was stabbed in the neck with a machete in front of a Bronx bodega on June 20
- Several other people have been arrested in the killing, which has drawn nationwide attention
Two more suspects have been arrested in connection with the machete killing of 15-year-old Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz last month, including a high-ranking member of a New York City street gang, police say.
The alleged Trinitarios gangster, identified as 29-year-old Diego Suero, and a 26-year-old man, Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, were arrested on charges of murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.
Eight other suspects have also been arrested in the killing of the 15-year-old boy near a bodega in the Bronx on June 20. Police have said the alleged killers appear to have targeted the boy by mistake.
Hearing of the new arrests Tuesday, the boy's father, Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, told News 4, "That's good news. I want everyone caught. I want justice for Junior."
Guzman-Feliz was dragged outside the bodega and set upon by a gang of men who hacked at him as he struggled to defend himself. The boy was slashed in the neck and died after running to a hospital three blocks away.
The owner of a bodega said that he had tried to protect Guzman-Feliz, who attempted to hide behind the counter. He said he called 911 after the gang members dragged him out of the store and stabbed him.
The bodega has not reopened since Guzman-Feliz's killing; the sidewalk outside the store has become such a sprawling memorial for the teen that his family visits to maintain all the flowers, balloons, candles and messages that have been left there in Junior's honor.
"I stay here because I want to clean everything nice, put everything clean, but I want justice for him," said his father. "We don't stop. Everybody pray for that."
"They don't stop. They have more. For the Trinitario, they got more. Everybody has to pay for my son."
Guzman-Feliz had been part of the NYPD's Explorers program, a group for youths interested in a law enforcement career. The New York City Police Foundation announced last week it planned to set up a scholarship in his name.
Guzman-Feliz's killing has drawn nationwide uproar, with Carmelo and La La Anthony, Cardi B and Rihanna and other stars lending their celebrity to spotlight the case.
