MS-13 Member Gets 23 Years To Life For Brutal Long Island Slaying

MASSAPEQUA, NY — A member of the MS-13 gang from Hempstead was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison today for the 2017 murder of a 19-year-old in 2017.

Kevin Granados-Coreas, 23, pleaded guilty on April 14 to second-degree murder and second-degree conspiracy in relation to the murder of 19-year-old Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales, a perceived enemy of MS-13.

“Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales was but another tragic victim of a vicious cycle of gang violence perpetuated by MS-13,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “The defendant told fellow MS-13 members that the victim was their ‘enemy.’ He helped to lure the young man into the preserve, and once inside, he wielded a machete and hacked Espantzay-Gonzales to death. NCDA continues to weaken this criminal organization in our county with each conviction, and those who take part in these senseless executions are paying for their crimes.”

Espantzay-Gonzales was reported missing on Jan. 31, 2017. On March 23 that year, his body was found by a person walking their dog in the Massapequa Park Preserve.

He was lured to the park on Jan. 28, 2017 by Granados-Coreas and others with the promise of sex and drugs. Once there, Granados-Coreas and other gang members Antonio Cullal, Raul Ponce and Gerson Stanley Juarez attacked Espantzay-Gonzales, hacking him to death with machetes. They left his body covered with tree branches, leaves and brush.

Granados-Coreas was arrested in Hempstead on Aug. 15, 2017. Cullal was sentenced to 20 years to life, while Ponce was sentenced to 32 years to life.

Donnelly said that Carlos Portillo and Roberto Abrego-Reyes ordered the murder because Espantzay-Gonzales was a perceived enemy of MS-13. The cases against them are pending.