As the trial for the murder of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz unfolds, one gang member testified that he felt “uneasy” after realizing the 15-year-old was not part of a rival gang.
Junior was brutally stabbed to death with a machete by several alleged gang members last June. The slaying was captured on surveillance footage and 14 alleged members of the Bronx Trinitarios gang were arrested in connection with the murder.
Later, it was determined the group allegedly thought Junior was a member of a rival gang.
“They were trying to figure out who it was that they had just finished,” Kevin Alvarez, one of the 14 arrested, said in court.
Last month, Alvarez, 19, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and conspiracy as part of a plea deal for his testimony. He was originally charged with second-degree murder, among other counts.
Alvarez said after the murder the members of the Trinitarios gang went to the home of Diego Suero, the gang’s alleged leader, and looked at a picture of the rival Sunset gang, but it became clear Junior was not in it.
“I didn’t see the person that had just finished getting stabbed there. When I looked at it, I didn’t see the kid that we just chased and stabbed,” Alvarez said. “I didn’t want to be there. I guess I just didn’t agree with what had happened.”
Alvarez previously admitted to dragging Junior out of the bodega onto the sidewalk at East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue.
In court, Alvarez also identified five murder defendants as part of the Trinitarios gang.
Alvarez explained his former gang members have put a hit out on him because of his decision to testify, ABC News reported
In exchange for Alvarez’s testimony, he will be sentenced to time served, according to officials.
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