“Justice for Junior” has become a rallying cry for a community dealing with the pitfalls of gang violence.
Last week, Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz was dragged out of a bodega on the corner of East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue and repeatedly stabbed with a machete by members of the Trinitarios gang. In the aftermath, Guzman-Feliz managed to make his way to St. Barnabas Hospital where he eventually died.
Police have so far arrested Jose Muniz, 21, Jose Taverez, 21, Manuel River, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, Joniki Martinez, 24, Santiago Rodriguez, 24, Elvin Garcia, 23 and Kevin Alvarez, 19. Alvarez has already been charged with assault, gang assault, manslaughter and second-degree murder.
A funeral was held Wednesday at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Belmont section of the Bronx that included pallbearers in white New York Yankee jerseys, Guzman-Feliz’s favorite team. Guzman-Feliz was a member of the NYPD Explorers program and wanted to be a police officer when he grew up.
In a statement from the Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School, which Guzman-Feliz attended, affiliates of the school expressed sorrow over his death.
“The board of trustees, faculty, staff and students of the Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School are heartbroken at the loss of our student, friend and classmate Lesandro (Junior) Guzman-Feliz. Lesandro was a sophomore at our school,” read the statement. “He was a kind, sweet, respectful young man, always smiling, who had so much potential. Our school is a family and losing a wonderful 15-year-old boy to senseless violence is hard for us to understand.”
The school also said it paid for all funeral expenses.
In a letter to the Department of Consumer Affairs, New York City Council members Ritchie Torres, Vanessa Gibson and Rafael Salamanca called for the bodega’s closure for not coming to Guzman-Feliz’s aid and contacting authorities.
“An owner who stands by idly while a 15-year-old is dragged out of his store and murdered in cold blood with a machete is no longer worthy of doing business in NYC,” read the letter. “While it might be unfair to expect a business owner, untrained in law enforcement, to perform heroics in the midst of savage gang violence, the failure to do something as basic as calling 911 is morally unconscionable.”
“As the local Council Members, we feel deeply the public’s outrage and urge DCA to hold Zesarina accountable for failing to demonstrate—in a moment when the life of an innocent child was at stake—the good moral character required by law,” the letter continued.
Cries for “Justice for Junior” have come from other public figures such as rapper Cardi B, former New York Knick Carmelo Anthony and Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia.
Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. issued a statement regarding Guzman-Feliz and a recent shooting in broad daylight in Castle Hill that killed three people.
“On Wednesday we were witness to an absolutely savage murder, perpetrated against a young boy of just 15-years-old and filmed for the whole world to see,” stated Diaz on Instagram. “What happened to Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, known as ‘Junior’ to his friends and neighbors, is horrifying to see, and I am heartbroken that his family and friends have been forced to witness his final moments in such a graphic manner.” “We’ve made great strides in the Bronx when it comes to crime, but we still have work to do,” continued Diaz. “One murder is too many, and these four murders taken together are all too reminiscent of our darkest days.”
Although crime rates across the five boroughs have fallen, NYPD officials say murders in the Bronx are at the highest rate since 2012. Between Jan. 1 through June 17 last year, there were 26 homicides. This year, during the same period, there have been 44.
According to Guzman-Feliz’s brother-in-law, Derek Grullon and sister, Genesis, multiple members of the gang sent direct messages via Facebook and Snapchat apologizing for the murder saying it was a case of mistaken identity and that the suspects had all been kicked out of Trinitarios.
But other members of the gang have been involved in mayhem of their own elsewhere in the Bronx.
Teens alleged to be members of Trinitarios beat and stabbed a 14-year-old member of a rival gang on the Bronx River Parkway with the incident caught on video. According to NYPD officials, a member of the gang ordered a hit on the 14-year-old because of an argument involving the teen’s girlfriend and a female member of Trinitarios. First responders to the situation ended up taking the teen to NYC Heath+Hospitals/Jacobi where he remained in serious condition with more than a dozen stab wounds.
Police identified and arrested Ramon Paulino, 21, accusing him of swinging a log at the teen victim. He’s been charged with assault, gang assault and attempted murder. They’re still looking for other suspects.
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