Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark announced on Friday, July 29, that two leaders of the “Los Sures” set of the Trinitarios gang have been found guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, 15, on June 20, 2018.

 

In the context of the announcement, Clark said, “These men, leaders of a Trinitarios set, commanded their members to go out and commit violence. The order ended the life of a promising 15-year-old boy, Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz. One of the defendants stood and watched as gang members attacked Junior with knives and a machete outside a Belmont bodega.”

 

She added, “The brutality was caught on surveillance video and went viral. Five gang members are serving time for their murder convictions in 2019, and today, a Bronx jury found the two leaders guilty for their role in the murder, closing another chapter of this tragedy. We said we would attain justice for Junior and this verdict does that, and hopefully brings some consolation to his family who have endured so much pain.”

According to trial testimony, and as previously reported by Norwood News, on the night of June 20, 2018, the defendants, Diego Suero, 33, of Boston Road, the leader of the “Los Sures” set of the Trinitarios gang, and Frederick Then, 24, of Reading, PA, second-in-command, summoned members to Suero’s home and ordered the members to commit violence against another set of the Trinitarios called “Sunset.”

 

According to trial testimony, the gang members came upon Junior and chased him for approximately four blocks to a bodega located on East 183^rd Street and Bathgate Avenue, where he tried to hide. The victim was punched and dragged out of the store to the sidewalk where he was hacked with knives and a machete by the five convicted co-defendants. From a short distance, Then watched the attack and afterward called Suero to tell him the members had carried out the orders.

The Trinitarios, led by Then, fled the scene and returned to Suero’s home to hide weapons and provide aid to a defendant who cut his hand during the incident. In a message to Suero, a Trinitario said, “You are the one that gave the light for the kid…” to which Suero replied, “yes, for all of Sunset.”

 

Suero was also seen on surveillance video on a separate day after the attack, paying for, and waiting with, one of the convicted co-defendants to get his hair dyed in an effort to conceal the man’s identity.

 

Clark said Suero and Then were found guilty of second-degree murder by a jury after a four-week trial before Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus. The defendants face 25 years to life in prison when they are sentenced on Sept. 16. As previously reported, 12 people were  charged in the context of Junior’s killing. This later changed to 14, according to a story by the NY Post. A street by the bodega where the 15-year-old was brutally killed was later renamed in his memory.

 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Morgan Dolan, counsel in the homicide bureau, with the assistance of Assistant District Attorney Devin Horzempa of trial bureau 60, under the supervision of Christine Scaccia, chief of the homicide bureau, and under the overall supervision of James Brennan, deputy chief of the trial division, and Theresa Gottlieb, chief of the trial division.

 

Leandra Feliz reflects on losing her son, Junior, four years later. Video courtesy of News 12 via YouTube.

Clark thanked Bronx District Attorney detective investigators, principal supervising intelligence analyst, Theresa Ramos, of the crime strategies bureau, video technician, Eric Newman, of the video unit, cell site analyst, Oladimeji Gbolade of the technical investigations bureau, and Francesca Castellanos of the interpreters unit for what she said was their hard work on the case.

 

She also thanked advocates, Laura Ramirez and Ana Pimentel, of the crime victims assistance unit and NYPD Detectives Frank Orlando of the Bronx homicide task force and Joseph Flores of the 48^th Precinct for their work on the investigation.

 

Norwood News has reached out to Leandra Feliz, Junior’s mother, for comment and will update this story upon receipt of any feedback.