12 Alleged Gang Members Indicted In Bronx Teen’s Murder: DA

THE BRONX, NY — Twelve reputed members of the violent Trinitarios gang have been indicted for the brutal murder of an innocent Bronx teenager last month, the borough's district attorney announced Wednesday. The five men accused of stabbing and slashing 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz are charged with first-degree murder, which could come with a sentence of life in prison, according to the DA's office.

"This crime was nothing less than ferocious. The defendants were out for violence," Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said in a statement.

Prosecutors said the 12 men, ranging in age from 18 to 29, are alleged members of the Los Sures set of the Trinitarios. The gang has reportedly terrorized parts of the city in recent months.

The men were planning to target a rival Trinitarios faction called Sunset on the night of June 20 when they set out in four cars from the home of their leader, Diego Suero, prosecutors said.

They happened upon Guzman-Feliz, an aspiring detective known affectionately as Junior, and chased him into a bodega, prosecutors said. Surveillance video showed the men going into the store and dragging the boy out "as he fought for his life," Clark said.

Five of the men — Jonaiki Martinez Estrella, Antonio Rodriguez Hernandez Santiago, Jose Muniz, Manuel Rivera and Elvin Garcia — allegedly slashed and stabbed the boy with knives and a machete, according to the DA's office. He was later pronounced dead at St. Barnabas Hospital.

The group returned to Suero's home to hide weapons and help Garcia, whose hand was cut in the course of the stabbing, prosecutors said. Six of the men fled and were arrested in New Jersey, one was detained in Connecticut and five others were arrested in the Bronx, the DA's office said.

All 12 men face charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon, according to the indictment. They reportedly pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday.

The investigation into the horrific crime is ongoing, the DA's office said.

"This indictment is an early step in the criminal justice process, so I ask the community to be patient as the case takes it course," Clark said in a statement.

Police have said Guzman-Feliz's murder is connected to the stabbing of a 14-year-old on the Bronx River Parkway on June 18. The New York City Police Foundation has created a college scholarship fund in Guzman-Feliz's memory.

(Lead image: Lesandro Guzman-Feliz was killed on June 20. Photo NYPD Commissioner James O'Neill via Twitter)