New York, United States. – Six members of the Trinitarios gang were sentenced to prison for their role in the brutal stabbing of Lesando “Junior” Guzman-Feliz in 2018, bringing an end to the case that shook an entire community.
Danilo Payamps Pacheco, 26, Ronald Ureña, 33, José Tavarez, 26, Danel Fernández, 26 and Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, 30, were sentenced on Friday, according to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark.
Fernández was sentenced to 18 years in prison, Ureña was sentenced to 15 years in prison; Concepcion and Pacheco were convicted to 12 years in prison, and Tavarez to 15 years in prison. Meanwhile, Luis Cabrera Santos, 29, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on January 10, 2023.
All were sentenced to five years of post-release supervision. The defendants had pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter.
According to trial testimony, on the night of June 20, 2018, Diego Suero, leader of the Trinitarios gang group “Los Sures,” and Frederic Then, second in command, summoned members to Suero’s house and ordered them to commit violence against another Trinitarios group called “Sunset.”
Allegedly, according to testimony, the members were in two vehicles when they encountered Junior and chased him to a bodega where he tried to hide.
The teenager was beaten and dragged out of the store by the six defendants and beaten with knives and machetes by five individuals.
Four were convicted in 2019 to prison sentences ranging from 23 to 25 years up to life in prison, and one defendant was convicted to life in prison. Suero and Then were convicted of 25 to life in prison in 2022.
The video of the brutal murder went viral. It shook the Bronx and the entire community, particularly because Junior was innocent and there was no evidence he was linked to any gang, according to police.
“These six defendants, members of the Los Sures Trinitarios group, pursued Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz and dragged him out of the Belmont bodega, where five other defendants stabbed him. Their irreconcilable actions led to the death of the 15-year-old child. The striking viral video of the attack left the Bronx community, and the world, horrified at such utter disregard for human life,” Clark said after the sentence.
“Our prosecution against the 13 defendants involved in the murder concludes today. It brings closure in the criminal justice aspect, but does not end the pain still suffered by Junior’s family and friends. They will never recover from their immense loss, but we hope it brings some peace to the community in knowing these defendants will be in prison for years.”
