In the summer of 2018, some machete and knife-wielding men attacked 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz. According to The New York Times, the incident occurred outside a Bronx bodega on June 20, 2018, in New York. Reportedly, members of the Trinitarios gang targeted Junior after mistaking him to be a member of a rival gang.
The outlet reported that surveillance footage showed multiple men surrounding Junior inside the bodega at around 11:32 p.m. The bodega was two blocks from his home. The men then dragged him out to the sidewalk. There, they repeatedly stabbed the teenager using knives and machetes before fleeing the scene. NBC New York stated that Junior was not a gang member but was mistaken for one.
Prosecutors had alleged that two gang leaders orchestrated the assault by sending their subordinates after members of another subgroup of their gang. Both the leaders were convicted of murder and sentenced last year to 25 years to life behind bars. Five others were convicted of murder, while six more pleaded guilty to reduced charges of manslaughter.
What happened to Lesandro Guzman-Feliz?
On the night of June 20, 2018, Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, also called Junior, became the victim of gang violence in New York. Members of the Trinitarios gang targeted Junior, believing he was a member of a rival gang, per ABC 7. The assault took place sometime between 11:32 and 11:40 p.m. at a bodega on East 183rd and Bathgate Avenue.
According to The New York Times, cameras captured Junior on his way to Adams Place at 11:32 p.m. Surveillance footage showed four cars driving down Adams Place around the same time, and the men inside the cars covered their faces. Police said that they then spotted Junior and began chasing him. The men surrounded Junior inside a bodega, dragged him out to the sidewalk, and stabbed him repeatedly.
Police arrived at the scene when witnesses told them a fight had occurred in front of the store. In the fight, the men assaulted Lesandro Guzman-Feliz and slashed his neck with a machete. Officials claimed Junior tried rushing to St. Barnabas Hospital, located just a block away, but collapsed on the sidewalk.
ABC 7 reported that Junior lived one block from the bodega. Investigators said that the 15-year-old told his mother he was heading downstairs to return money to a friend. However, a gang of Trinitarios chased him down and hacked him to death.
How many suspects were convicted in connection with Lesandro Guzman-Feliz’s murder?
According to NBC New York, prosecutors stated that in July of that year, 14 individuals who were a part of the Trinitarios faced charges in connection with Lesandro Guzman-Feliz’s murder. Two suspects, the gang leaders, were convicted of murder and received 25 years to life in prison.
The New York Times report stated that a jury convicted five other suspects, who attacked the victim with knives and a machete, of murder and gang assault in June 2019. Four got at least 23-year sentences, while one—Jonaiki Martinez Estrella—received life in prison without parole. He was convicted of first-degree murder for delivering the fatal blow. Moreover, six others later pleaded guilty to manslaughter for dragging Junior out of a corner store as he tried to hide, per NBC New York. All six received prison terms varying between 12 to 18 years each.
However, in March 2023, a New York state appeals court overturned Jonaiki Martinez Estrella’s first-degree murder conviction. The New York Post stated that the appellate court ruled Estrella would be re-sentenced on the lesser second-degree murder conviction. He will face up to 25 years to life in prison.
MTV’s True Life: Crime previously aired the case in an episode titled “The Murder of Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz.”
