MS-13 Members Arrested In Shooting That Paralyzed Jamaica Teen

JAMAICA, QUEENS -- Four Queens members of the notoriously violent MS-13 street gang were arrested Friday in a murder attempt that left a 16-year-old boy paralyzed, federal prosecutors said.

Alleged gang members Melvi and Santos Amador-Rios, Yan Carlos Ramirez and Antonio Salvador are accused of plotting and ordering the teen's slaying in 2016 because they believed him to be a member of the rival 18th Street Gang, court records state.

“They used their positions to direct, instruct and assist lower-level gang members to shoot and kill a suspected rival on the streets of Jamaica, Queens," said U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue.

Melvi Amador-Rios, alleged 27-year-old leader of MS-13's "Centrales Locos Salvatruchas" clique in Jamaica, is accused of instructing a low-level CLS member to get a gun from his 31-year-old brother, Santos, and use it to murder the boy, according to court filings.

Ramirez, 28, and Salvador, 30, allegedly gave instructions for how to use the gun and carry out the murder to the CLS member and two others recruits in the hit job.

The three ambushed the teen in Jamaica on Oct. 23, 2016, beating him and shooting him in the head, police said. He survived the attack, but it left him paralyzed.

All four men were arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Friday afternoon on charges of assault, attempted murder-in-aid-of racketeering and related firearm offenses.

If convicted, they face life behind bars.

Lead photo via Shutterstock