Two NYPD cops are being probed by the department’s ethics team after they apparently failed to help murdered Bronx boy Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz as he bled to death on a sidewalk last week.
Guzman-Feliz, 15, was slashed with machetes by a group of at least five suspected Trinitarios gang members outside a bodega, before stumbling towards nearby St Barnabas Hospital and collapsing just feet away.
Cellphone video shows him lying on the ground as passers-by try to stop the bleeding. However, two cops appear to be watching on rather than doing anything to help.
‘[Internal Affairs Bureau] is looking into the responding officers as to why they didn’t help the boy,’ a police source told the New York Post.
‘Yo, what are y’all doin’ about this?’ one person can be heard screaming. ‘In front of St. Barnabas Hospital, man.’
It comes as an eighth person was arrested over the murder on June 20.
Cellphone video shows 15-year-old murder victim Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz lying on the ground as passers-by try to staunch the blood. However, two cops (pictured) appear to be watching on rather than doing anything to help
A passer-by screams ‘yo, what are you doing’ at the cops as people try to stop the bleeding with napkins and pieces of clothing
Guzman-Feliz (pictured left), 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. On Tuesday, Elvin Garcia became the eighth person arrested over his death. He is pictured, right, being arraigned in the Bronx on Wednesday
Kevin Alvarez, 19, was arrested by the NYPD on Monday. He has pleaded not guilty to murder, manslaughter and gang assault. He is seen being led out of a police precinct early Monday morning
Seven men, all of whom are said to be members of the Dominican street gang Trintarios, were arrested on Sunday and Monday and charged over Guzman-Felix’s death. They are Jose Muniz, 21, Jose Taverez, 21, Manuel Rivera, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, Joniki Martinez, 24,Santiago Rodriguez, 24, and Kevin Alvarez, 19.
Six of the men were arrested in New Jersey. They were extradited to the Bronx on Wednesday afternoon after Lesandro’s funeral had finished.
On Tuesday night, 23-year-old Elvin Garcia from the Bronx became the eighth person to be arrested. His arrest was announced on the steps of the 48th precinct.
‘Literally as we speak, we’ve just, in this building, made an eighth arrest regarding this incident. That person will be prosecuted for murder,’ NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermont Shea told Pix 11 at the time. The suspect kept his head down as he was taken from the precinct to court in a plaid shirt.
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.
As Garcia was arrested on Tuesday, hundreds descended on the bodega where the attack happened to demand ‘justice for Junior’.
The mourners wept and lit candles in tribute to the teenager.
On Tuesday, during their joint appearance in a New Jersey court, six of the defendants complained that their families were being threatened.
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
Leandra Feliz, the teenager’s mother, cries as she prepares to enter the church for his funeral on Wednesday
A woman holds up an image of the teenager on Wednesday. The boy’s death has sparked outrage in the community and prompted calls for a crackdown on violence
Hundreds of mourners were 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
There is a sea of candles outside the bodega which remains closed as the police continue with their investigation
Men carry portraits of the teenager as mourners entered the second day of a wake for him on Tuesday
Among the mourners were young women and girls who wept and consoled each other as they remembered the teen
A group of men wearing t-shirts with Lesandro’s photograph on the front pose for a picture during the second day of his wake in the Bronx on Tuesday
Lisandro had his son’s face tattooed onto his hand in a tribute to him after his brutal death
‘Social media has been very active about this case. Their families are being threatened, children,’ public defender Judith Fallon said, according to The New York Post which attended the hearing.
New Jersey authorities raided a Paterson home on Sunday known to be a hangout for members of the Trintarios street gang, which is believed to have been connected to the teenager’s death.
In court, the men mostly stared at the floor as prosecutors laid out the evidence against them. At one point, the judge ordered one of the defendants to look up at him.
Only one of the suspects could speak without the aid of a Spanish translator.
All six waived their right to a hearing, so the judge approved their extradition to New York State.
After the hearing, the men were taken back to Passaic County Jail, where they will be held until New York officials pick them up.
Bronx District Attorney, Darcel Clark, said at a press conference on Tuesday that the six suspects that will be extradited back would be arraigned on Wednesday and face charges of murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault.
Among those who turned out were the Thunder Bay Guardian Angels, a group of patrol safety volunteers who work around the city
Mourners hold hands and stand in circles to pay tribute to Lesandro on Tuesday afternoon
Young NYPD cadets known as Explorers stand in a line on the second day of the wake for Lesandro on Tuesday. He was part of the youth group and wanted to become an NYPD officer
The attack was caught on surveillance footage and showed gang members going into the bodega and dragging Lesandro out as he screamed for help
In a savage attack in the street, the men used machetes to slash the teenager’s body then left him for dead. He was able to run to a hospital nearby but he died afterwards
Kevin Alvarez appeared in court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, including murder, manslaughter and gang assault.
Another person was picked up in the Dominican Republic, but is cooperating with authorities and has not been charged.
The Trintarios gang has developed a reputation for violence in the US.
Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea said during Tuesday’s press conference in New York that authorities ‘will not tolerate thugs on the street of the Bronx, whether it’s Trinitarios or any other gang.
‘The brutal nature of this crime, we will literally leave no stone unturned until we make sure that we will get justice, that we make sure that everyone involved in this incident are brought to justice.’
In Paterson alone, the gang has been blamed for at least two violent incidents in the last three years.
Last year, the gang allegedly started fights that led cops to shut down the city’s Dominican festival early. In 2015, gang members were accused of stabbing and breaking bottles over a man they thought was a member of a rival group.
The NYPD also released footage on Tuesday, showing a group of suspected gang members stabbing a 14-year-old in the median of the Bronx River Parkway earlier this month.
That victim survived the incident, but remains in the hospital in critical condition after losing a kidney.
His mother says the gang had been after her son since last year, when he broke up with a girl linked to the gang.
On Tuesday night, mourners maintained their vigil with more candles and flower tributes. The crime has shocked the city and placed a renewed emphasis on gang warfare
Youngsters sobbed for Lesandro on Tuesday during the second day of his wake. The gang allegedly responsible for his killing has also been blamed for the brutal beating of a second teenager
Mayor Bill de Blasio was yelled at by mourners as he visited the teenager’s family at the funeral home where his body was being held on Tuesday, after being criticized by the teenager’s mother for not contacting her for days
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.
A crowd at Monday’s wake outside of R.G. Ortiz Funeral Home chanted ‘Justice for Junior’ and ‘Close the Bodega Down’ as others held a candle lit vigil outside the crime scene.
‘I want to say thank you to everyone. The police are doing a great job with the arrests and I hope that they continue to go to the end and find all of the people who were involved,’ his mother told the crowd.
Guzman-Feliz’s family has called on members of their community to boycott the bodega where the attack took place. They believe the owners could have intervened.
The bodega has remained closed since the attack last week.
A GoFundMe campaign set up to raise money for the teen’s funeral had raised more than $256,000 by Tuesday afternoon.
Bronx-born rapper Cardi B also made a donation of $8,000 under her given name Belcalis Almanzar.
The singer took to her Instagram page over the weekend to express anger over the senseless killing, writing in part: ‘R.I.P. These Bronx streets are ruthless.’