Five male suspects were taken into custody Sunday for their connection in the brutal slaying of a 15-year-old boy in The Bronx. A sixth suspect has yet to be found.
Horrific surveillance footage shows victim Lesandro Guzman-Feliz being dragged out of a convenience store and viciously slashed in the neck around 11.40pm last Wednesday.
Police in New Jersey said they received clues on the whereabouts of the suspects in New York-based Dominican gang, Trinitarios, and arrested five people total in Paterson, The Bronx and one in the Dominican Republic.
A 19-year-old Bronx man, Kevin Alvarez, was charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault thus far. The remaining suspect names are expected to be released after further investigation.
The New York Police Department released a statement on the matter Sunday night.
‘The Department has identified multiple suspects and is in the process of interviewing some of them at this time. Initial arrests have been made, and more are anticipated,’ the statement said in part.
‘The NYPD thanks the public for the outpouring of tips in this case, and encourages people to continue to come forward if they have information to share. Additional information will be released as it becomes available and confirmed.’
This GoFunMe photo shows 15-year-old victim Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, who was viviously dragged and stabbed to death by a group of men last Wednesday night in The Bronx
The frenzied attack took place outside Zesarina Grocery located on East 183rd Street in the Belmont section.
Police said the killing was ‘a case of mistaken identity over a sex tape’ as Guzman-Feliz became involved in a dispute that turned fatal with the group of men.
CCTV video posted by Facebook user Riichy Rich Friday shows the pack of men forcibly dragging Guzman-Feliz by the hood of his jacket out of the bodega and frantically stabbing and slashing him with a machete before fleeing on foot.
After a few seconds, Guzman-Feliz was seen standing on the street corner with blood pouring from a wound in his neck.
He then was seen running across the street, heading towards the nearby St Barnabas Hospital.
According to police, the mortally wounded boy never reached the hospital and collapsed a block away.
Surveillance video shows a group of suspects dragging Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, 15, out of a bodega in The Bronx on Wednesday night
The men pulled out knives and machetes and proceeded to stab and slash the teenager
The men are seen in the footage repeatedly knifing Guzman-Feliz on the sidewalk in front of the grocery store
After the attackers fled, the mortally wounded by got up, with blood pouring from a wound on his neck
The suspects are seen above when they were driving away in a white sedan and a dark sedan after the killing
Another extremely graphic video posted on social media by a different user, shows Guzman-Feliz drenched in blood from head to toe, sitting on the sidewalk with his back against the wall.
A woman then tries to apply pressure to his neck before police officers and paramedics surround him. Guzman-Feliz succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
Officers said with his dying breath, the 15-year-old asked for some water, according to ABC 7 New York.
Investigators said he had told his mother he was going to the bodega a block away from his house to either repay a debt, or lend $5 to a friend. He never made it home that night.
Guzman-Feliz tried to ran to a hospital, but collapsed a block away. A woman tried to stop the bleeding from his neck, but he died on the sidewalk
The 15-year-old attended high school and dreamed of becoming a police detective one day
The victim’s sister, Genesis Collado-Feliz, 17, said her younger brother loved playing video games and would come to her for advice about girls.
She said Lesandro had recently become friends with a group of older boys, but she insisted he was not in a gang.
‘He tried to run into the store because he thought he’d be safe. They dragged him from the store like a dog,’ Collado-Feliz told the New York Post. ‘They were grown men and he was only 15.’
Guzman-Feliz was a student at the Dr Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School.
News 12 The Bronx reported that he had aspired to become a police detective.
The GoFundMe page for the family, Justice for Junior, raised $129,416 of its $15,000 goal as of Sunday night.