Five men convicted of the grisly murder of the Bronx teenager Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz were sentenced on Friday and could spend the rest of their lives in prison.
Jonaiki Martinez Estrella struck the fatal blow by stabbing the 15-year-old in the neck with a knife on a sidewalk in Belmont, while the other four attacked him with knives and machetes, prosecutors argued. Martinez Estrella, 25, was sentenced by Judge Robert Neary to life without the possibility of parole, while his four co-defendants each received sentences of 25 years to life.
Estrella apologized in court, saying, "My intention was not to cause death," but prosecutors questioned his remorse and noted he was found with "one-inch sharpenedd object" in his shoe this morning.
The mother of one of the defendants, Roberto Hernandez Santiago, was heard screaming when the sentence was handed down: “He is my son! He did not kill Junior! He did not kill Junior!” the New York Post reported.
The sentencing comes over a year after the June 2018 murder that shook the Bronx and the rest of the city. In what is believed to be a case of mistaken identity related to a rivalry within the Trinitarios gang, a group of men pursued Junior, who ran so fast to get away from them that he lost his shoes.
Surveillance videos showed the teen tried to hide in Cruz and Chiky grocery on East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue. A group found him, dragged him out and attacked him with machetes.
Bleeding from his neck, the teen tried to walk to the nearby St. Barnabas Hospital but bled out on the sidewalk. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show police standing by without taking action.
Junior’s grieving mother, Leandra Feliz, told the courtroom during the sentencing, "That night, there were two deaths, Junior and I, who was left dead inside. As a young boy, my son dreamed of becoming a detective, so he could protect this city...Please make sure my son's dreams come true. These killers should never be able to step out of a jail cell, so they know the moment they killed my son, they took their own lives as well."
Afterward, Feliz also told reporters that she would not accept any apologies from the gang members, "My son's not gonna come back."
Eight other defendants are still awaiting trial on lesser charges related to the killing.
