20 July, 2017
A law enforcement official says at least a dozen alleged members of the MS-13 street gang have been arrested on murder charges following a spate of bloodshed that included the massacre of four young men in a NY park last April.
Some of those arrested are also facing murder and assault charges in the January killing of a man and wounding of a woman in a Long Island deli.
The U.S. attorney's office scheduled a press conference Wednesday afternoon to discuss the case.
Three of the seven people charged - Alexis Hernandez, 20, Santos Leonel Ortiz-Flores, 19, and Omar Antonio "Anticristo" Villata, 19 - were nailed with participating in the quadruple homicide.
The four victims were previously identified as 16-year-old Justin Llivicura, 18-year-old Jorge Tigre, 18-year-old Jefferson Villalobos and 20-year-old Michael Lopez Banegas.
Prosecutors unsealed a superseding indictment against 17 gang members for the brutal murders of four teenagers in April, and the assassination of a rival gang member in a deli last January. Federal prosecutors have said two girls lured the four young men to the park in a premeditated setup.
A fifth victim fled the scene.
The arrests were made by members of the FBI's Long Island Gang Task Force.
The Suffolk County Police Department has arrested more than 160 suspected gang members in the county since September, including many on multiple occasions, as part of a crackdown on the violence, Sini said. "It shows that we will not tolerate violence in our communities". More than a dozen MS-13 gang members were charged Wednesday in these and other violent killings in the area. They include the murders of Brentwood teens Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas, as well as other murders in May 2013, July 2014, June 2015 and June 2016.
According to a recent court filing, the four young men were lured to a park by two female associates of the MS-13 street gang, which was hunting for rivals and perceived enemies. Two victims were shot but survived, prosecutors said.
At least 15 people have been arrested in connection to murders on Long Island attributed to MS-13, or La Mara Salvatrucha, authorities said.
In a statement released by lawmakers, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said "MS-13 is one of the most vicious criminal gangs in this county today". "The idea that human life means nothing to these gang members should shock the conscience, and we can not allow this type of thinking to take hold in our youth".
