NEW YORK — Police have now arrested seven people in connection with a brutal machete attack on a teen outside a Bronx bodega last week, according to NBC New York.
Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, 15, was pulled out of the Cruz and Chiky grocery Wednesday by members of the Dominican gang Trinitarios, who beat him, hacked him with a machete and left him to die on the sidewalk outside the store in what officials believe was a case of mistaken identity, according to the New York Post.
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In the Bronx on 6/20, 15-yr-old Junior Guzman-Feliz was fatally stabbed by the men in the photo (on right). He was never going to give up on his dream of being an NYPD detective & WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP ON HIM. Help us get #JusticeForJunior You can anonymously call 800-577-TIPS. pic.twitter.com/0gVAMfmC7f
— Chief Dermot F. Shea (@NYPDDetectives) June 23, 2018
The stabbing murder of this young man is among the most brutal crimes I’ve seen in my 36yr career. @NYPDDetectives are working hard to capture these killers, but we also need your help. Watch this video and call #800577TIPS with any information you can provide. #JUSTICEFORJUNIOR pic.twitter.com/h6QxmGtEsx
— Chief Terence Monahan (@NYPDChiefofDept) June 23, 2018
Police first arrested a 19-year-old from the Bronx on Sunday on charges of second-degree murder, NBC reported.
Six others, between the ages of 18 and 24, were charged overnight Monday in connection with the death of the teenager.
Gang members wrongly believed Guzman-Feliz was in a revenge sex video posted online that featured a relative of one of the attackers, according to the Post.
A leader of the gang later apologized on Facebook for the mistake, according to WPIX.
The teen's mother said her son was a good boy who had never been in a gang. He was a member of the NYPD Explorers Program for Youth and dreamed of one day becoming a detective, Leandra Feliz told the Post.
“Since he was 5 years old, he told me, ‘Mommy, I want to be a police,’” she said.
The identities of the suspects have not yet been released.
A GoFundMe account, set up to help the family pay for funeral expenses and other costs has raised more than $125,000 as of Sunday evening.
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