Six of the eight men arrested in the gang-related murder of a Bronx teenager have arrived at the NYPD’s 48th Precinct following their extradition from New Jersey – just hours after the innocent 15-year-old was laid to rest.
Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Felix was slashed to death with a machete on June 20 after being dragged screaming out of a Bronx bodega allegedly by a Dominican street gang in a tragic case of mistaken identity.
The six men – Jose Taverez, 21, Manuel Rivera, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, Santiago Rodriguez, 24, Jose Muniz, 21, and Joniki Martinez, 24 – were arrested at a New Jersey home on Sunday.
They were extradited to New York City on Wednesday and were escorted in handcuffs into the 48th Precinct in the Bronx late Wednesday afternoon.
Two other men – 19-year-old Kevin Alvarez and 23-year-old Elvin Garcia – were also arrested in New York over the murder.
All of the men are said to be members of the Dominican street gang Trintarios.
Lesandro Guzman-Feliz (pictured), a 15-year-old aspiring NYPD cop, was beaten and stabbed to death outside of a Bronx bodega last week in what the police say was a case of mistaken identity
Their perp walks came after hundreds of people turned up to attend the funeral of the murdered teenager.
Mourners packed into Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church on Wednesday morning to bid farewell to the aspiring policeman.
The service went between Spanish and English and included several readings from the bible. At the heart of the service was a plea to the young people in the congregation to take a stand against violence.
‘In the name of Jesus, I invite you to renew your commitment. It’s a commitment, as human beings and as Christians, to protect the life of our people.
‘To prevent another tragedy. It is possible to prevent it. We have friends, social media, we know what is going on.
‘We have friends, relatives. Young people who are here, take courage. Protect your life, watch out.
‘If you see something, say something and do something. Don’t just take the video. Do something,’ said the pastor.
Pall bearers carry the coffin of 15-year-old Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz out of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church in the Bronx on Wednesday
Lisandro Guzman touches his son Lesandro’s coffin at the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel church in the Bronx on Wednesday
The teenager’s father broke down in tears as he hugged other mourners at the funeral on Wednesday morning
Pall bearers wearing Yankees jerseys carry the coffin of 15-year-old Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz into Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in the Bronx on Wednesday morning
The streets surrounding the church were lined with barricades to control the crowds.
It comes after two days of wakes of vigils outside the bodega where the teenager was murdered.
Horrifying surveillance video of the attack shocked the city and sparked calls for a crackdown on gang violence.
Prosecutors allege the men went after Lesandro after mistaking him for a rival gang member who had been filmed having sex with one of the Trintarios’ girlfriends on Snapchat.
On Tuesday, during their joint appearance in a New Jersey court, six of the defendants complained that their families were being threatened.
‘Social media has been very active about this case.
Lisandro kept his hand on his son’s casket as he and other men walked it out of the church on Wednesday morning
The teenager’s mother and father are shown above arriving for his funeral in the Bronx on Wednesday morning
The grieving father was consoled by other mourners before he made his way into the church on Wednesday morning
Leandra Feliz, the teenager’s mother, cries as she prepares to enter the church for his funeral on Wednesday
Leandra, Lesandro’s mother, waits with an NYPD officer to welcome his coffin into the church on Wednesday
Leandra was comforted by Father Jonathan Morris outside the church. There was a large NYPD presence at the scene due in part to Lesandro’s ambitions of joining the force
Lesandro’s casket was adorned with brightly colored flowers and messages of remembrance
Pall bearers carry the teenager’s coffin out of the hearse on Wednesday to take it into the church
The streets were lined by NYPD Explorers, which Lesandro was a part of, as the hearse carrying his casket drove past
A woman holds up a photograph of the teenager on Wednesday. The boy’s death has sparked outrage in the community and prompted calls for a crackdown on violence
Crowds gathered outside the church on Wednesday to take photographs of the young man’s casket as it was driven past
Members of the NYPD explorers cry outside the church where the funeral was held on Wednesday
The young aspiring police officers worked with Lesandro who had hopes of becoming an NYPD detective
Hundreds of mourners outside the Bronx bodega on Tuesday night where Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz was murdered on June 20. It was the second day of a well-attended wake for the teenager
‘Their families are being threatened, children,’ public defender Judith Fallon said, according to The New York Post which attended the hearing.
Not all of the men who were arrested in New Jersey are from there. Around half have addresses in the Bronx but fled the area after footage of the attack was released by the NYPD.
Only one of them was able to communicate with the judge without the help of a translator during Tuesday’s hearing.
After being repeatedly struck with the machete, Junior somehow mustered the strength to run to a hospital up the street which is where he died.
His grieving parents have implored Mayor Bill de Blasio to do more to make the streets safer for young innocent children like Junior who find themselves becoming casualties of the city’s gang warfare.
Inside the Trinitarios, the ruthless Dominican gang behind Bronx teen’s murder
The brutal machete murder of a 15-year-old boy outside a Bronx bodega on June 20, allegedly by members of the Dominican street gang the Trinitarios, has propelled the otherwise unknown group to a national stage.
Last week, eight members of the gang allegedly murdered Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman Feliz in a case of mistaken identity which has shocked the country.
The eight alleged murderers are in custody and have all been arraigned with the help of Spanish translators.
While their gang may not be as well known as the infamous MS-13 or the Bloods or the Crips, its presence is rising in New York City and bringing with it a wave of violence.
Members of the Trinitarios gang pose for a photograph as part of a History channel documentary. The gang was started in Rikers Island in the 80s but has spread to the streets of New York and New Jersey
The gang began in the 1980s on Rikers Island where a collection of Dominican inmates banded together to protect each other on the inside.
According to The New York Post, one of the co-founders is Leonides ‘Junito’ Sierra who remains behind bars to this day. He has been charged in the past with operating the gang from his prison cell.
Its specialties are machete murders, drug dealing and prostitution, according to police sources.
Members distinguish themselves with green bandannas.
Their name loosely translates to trinity which refers to their three core beliefs – God, brotherhood and freedom.
One of the Trinitarios’ logos. The gang’s loosely translates to the trinity and represents its three core principles – God, brotherhood and freedom
One unnamed NYPD official told The Post how the gang’s members lure vulnerable women into city apartments where they then trap them as sex slaves and force them to work.
‘They get these girls to come in and move them from apartment to apartment, letting guys come in and rape them. The girls can’t get away,’ they said.
Another trademark is the machete which gang members prefer to use over guns because it allows for a more ‘personal’ attack.
‘A shooting is easy to do. [The Trinitarios’ preferred way] is more close and personal.
‘They like to send messages.’
While their rivals DDP (Dominicans Don’t Play) have long been on detectives’ radars, the Trinitarios have flown relatively undetected until now.
‘They are definitely getting big. The NYPD ought to start paying a lot more attention to them,’ the source added.
The Trinitarios are said to recruit members in high school, while they are young.
The eight men arrested for Lesandro’s murder are all aged between 18 and 24. Some are from New Jersey and some are from the Bronx.
The gang prefers machetes to guns and attack victims by slicing them in a more ‘personal’ way than shooting them
The gang has been blamed for other murders in the last year and residents of the Bronx are well aware of the threat they carry.
‘Decency and humanity isn’t in their DNA, only killing. They’re just as bad as terrorists,’ said Camila Garcia, 27, a mother-of-two who lives in the area.
‘We live here. We deal with this. We hear the “bang bang bang” at night. When you hear noise, you got to make sure all your kids is in the house…
‘Who wants to live like that?’ added the mother of a woman who was killed as the DDP shot at Trinitarios in a playground in 2016.
Another mother who lives in the area said the men who killed Junior were ‘kids’ that they saw ‘every day’.
A gaggle of young men, allegedly members of the gang, are seeing surrounding a 14-year-old boy during a vicious attack on Bronx River Parkway on June 18
Clinging to life: This 14-year-old, pictured in his hospital bed, lost a kidney after being repeatedly stabbed and beaten by the gang. His mother declined to name the teen for his protection
‘The kids that killed [Guzman-Feliz] are kids that we see every day. They don’t look like killers. They look like normal teenage boys.
‘You never know who could be a killer,’ she said.
Teenagers at Junior’s wake said they learned to tolerate the violence to save their own skin.
‘It’s about survival. When these lights go out, who’s here? Not you. Not the cops.
‘You mind your business, you shut your mouth, you’ll be all right,’ one 16-year-old said.
The gang is also believed to be responsible for a knife attack on a teenage boy on June 18.
They were filmed chasing him onto the Bronx River Parkway to attack him. The boy, whose mother did not want him to be named, remains in hospital.