PICTURED: Bronx bodega in their new home – a empty wing at Rikers

The three Trinitarios gang members accused of helping hack a 15-year-old boy to death in a Bronx bodega have been pictured looking defeated and downcast in their deserted unit at Rikers.

The suspects – Danel Fernandez, 21; Jose Muniz, 21; and Santiago Rodriguez, 24 – have been separated from the general population after receiving a barrage of death threats. 

In a new photo, first obtained by Pix11, Muniz – who is accused of hacking Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz to death with a machete – is seen leaning against a wall in the almost-empty prison unit in the GRVC Building, typically meant for 50 inmates.

His fellow alleged gang members Fernandez and Rodriguez are sat on the floor. Rodriguez hugs his knees and hangs his head, while Fernandez stares up at Muniz in the picture, taken from surveillance footage at Rikers Island.

Muniz, accused of hacking the teen with a mchete isseen leaning against a wall while his two alleged fellow gang members, Fernandez and Rodriguez, sit on the floor. They are being held by themselves in the GRVC Building

Three of the men accused of killing Bronx boy Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz have been moved into their own unit at Rikers Island jail. Pictured are Jose Muniz, 21, (left) and Santiago Rodriguez, 24, (right) at Bronx Criminal Court on June 27

Danel Fernandez, 21, (left, at court in the Bronx on Monday) will also be housed in the unit. Manuel Rivera, 18, (right, at court in the Bronx on June 27) is also being held at Rikers Island but in general population, as he is seen as less of a risk

Fernandez, Muniz and Rodriguez are occupying three cells inside a unit at the George R. Vierno Center, leaving all 47 others empty. Pictured is the jail of which the unit is a part 

Other inmates at Riekrs – including members of the Trinitarios gang, which the suspects are allegedly members of – reportedly ‘want blood from them’ after video footage of the brutal bodega murder went viral. 

A source said that this was the first time an entire unit at the jail had been dedicated to just three men.

‘You have every Latin gang, including the Trinitarios, after them,’ the source told New York PIX11. ‘They brought a lot of heat to the Trinitarios gang, which is why they are making threats against their own right now.’

Fernandez, Muniz and Rodriguez are occupying three cells inside a unit at the George R. Vierno Center, leaving all 47 others empty. A recent fall in the jail population means there is plenty of spare capacity. 

Their alleged accomplice, Manuel Rivera, 18, is also being held at Rikers but is in the general population as he is seen as less at risk. The other four suspected gangsters accused over Guzman-Feliz’s killing are in other jails.

They are Jose Taverez, 21; Elvin Garcia, 28; Joniki Martinez, 24; and Kevin Alvarez, 19.

Any time one of the four at Rikers need to move, they must be accompanied by two jail officers in addition to a captain filming on a camera.

Elvin Garcia, 28; and Joniki Martinez, 24, are being held in other jails after being charged over Guzman-Feliz’s murder. They are seen at court in the Bronx on June 27

Kevin Alvarez, 19; Jose Taveres, 21, are two other men accused over the killing who are being held in other jails. They are pictured at court in the Bronx on June 27

Protective measures are standard procedure in most jails for high-profile inmates or those under threat.

Another source was quoted telling the New York Post, ‘Everyone wants a piece of them. They got around-the-clock security at their door You can’t get near them.’

Prosecutors say the shocking murder was a case of mistaken identity, when one of the gang members falsely believed Guzman to be a man he’d seen having sex with a female love interest in a Snapchat video.

The case has drawn national outrage and fury at the Dominican street gang, with one member even apologizing to the victim’s family over social media.

On Saturday, two of the suspects spoke out to protest their innocence, saying they had no part in the grisly crime.

Martinez-Estrella told the New York Daily News that he was hundreds of miles away in Pennsylvania when Guzman was forcibly dragged from the bodega and hacked to death on the sidewalk.

Guzman (left and right) was a member of the NYPD Explorer program and dreamed of someday becoming a cop. He was also remembered as a die-hard Yankees fan

The suspected Trinitarios gangbangers were removed from general population on Rikers Island (seen in a file photo) after constant death threats over the June 20 slaying

Police say that Martinez-Estrella was the one who delivered the fatal blow that ended Guzman’s life.

But his defense attorney points out that the attacker caught on tape has a tattoo on his neck, while his client does not.

‘Look at my neck,’ said Martinez-Estrella. ‘I have nothing.’

Meanwhile, Tavarez told the newspaper that his sole focus over the last year has been working towards earning his high school diploma and avoiding street violence.

‘I’m a guy who works and studies,’ Tavarez claimed from behind bars. ‘I don’t have the heart to kill anyone.’

While Tavarez admits he was at the bodega on the night of Guzman’s killing, he said that Martinez-Estrella was not. He also said that he ran the moment someone pulled out a weapon.

‘I ran into the bodega because I was afraid,’ Tavarez said in Spanish. ‘I saw the guys with the machete and I got scared.’

Surveillance video shows terrified teen Guzman being dragged from a bodega on June 20

The vicious attackers hacked the boy with a machete before he staggered to a nearby hospital and died

The murder suspect also insisted that Guzman-Feliz is ‘not the innocent child everyone is claiming he is,’ but says that family still deserves justice.

‘You come to New York to make your life better,’ Tavarez said. ‘I am not that kind of guy (who would do anything like this).’

Guzman was a member of the NYPD Explorer program and dreamed of someday becoming a cop. He was also remembered as a die-hard Yankees fan.

He was buried on Wednesday after a funeral service attended by thousands.

Two more suspects were arrested and taken into custody on Tuesday over the killing, including 29-year-old Diego Suero, who is accused of ordering the attack.

He was charged with murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon.

Mourners gathered outside the shuttered bodega where the attack occurred on June 26 to pay tribute to Guzman-Feliz

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk