Gang "hunt" for rivals is said to have killed a teenager wrongly

The gang members roamed the Bronx section of Belmont with machetes and knives, "hunting", seeking revenge against their rivals, according to investigators. They wanted blood.

Instead of targeting a gang member, the Trinitarios dragged Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, 15, into a bodega and repeatedly stabbed him in what the police called appalling. wrong identity case.

But even though police officials have announced an eighth arrest during last week's horrific assassination that was captured on video, investigators were still working Tuesday to piece together what had sparked Lesandro's attack . The Trinitarios, a vicious Dominican gang based in New York, would be responsible for a wave of violence in this section of the Bronx, including a stabbing Monday in the Bronx River Park that left a 14-year-old boy in a critical condition, said the police. Investigators said they believe the two incidents are related.

The men who attacked Lesandro believed that he was a member of a gang, said law enforcement officials, but he was not.

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"They were there looking for Trinitarios and they found this poor child," the official said. "It's a puzzle and we are slowly piecing it together." We want to know, of course, why he? Why over there? And, why so violent?

The assassination was captured on a video that quickly became viral online, sparking an uproar on social media that included calls for justice from rapper Cardi B, basketball star Carmelo Anthony and the thrower of the CC Yankees Sabathia. As outrage grew, James P. O'Neill, the police commissioner, and Mayor Bill de Blasio both made appearances in the boy's wake over the past two days.

Six of the men accused in Lesandro's death refused to challenge their extraditions during a hearing held Tuesday in Paterson, NJ Hours later, police announced the arrest of a new suspect, Elvin Garcia, in the Bronx. All were to be brought to justice on Wednesday afternoon, joining a 19-year-old man who was arrested on Sunday and charged with second-degree murder on Monday.

"We will not neglect any detail," said Dermot F. Shea, the chief detective, at a press conference in the Bronx. "We have sufficient resources to deal with anyone who wants to participate in this activity.You'll quickly learn that it's a hopeless situation.If you're fleeing to Paterson, if you're fleeing to Wyoming, we'll have it.

Men arrested in New Jersey – Jose Taverez, 21, Manuel Rivera, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, Santiago Rodriguez, 24, all of the Bronx; Jose Muniz, 21, from Paterson, N.J .; and Joniki Martinez, 24, of Freeport, N.Y., were waiting to be transferred Wednesday to New York, where they are charged with assault, manslaughter and murder.

They were called one by one by Judge Ernest M. Caposela of the Criminal Division of Passaic County of the Superior Court of New Jersey, where they each stood with their heads down.

A trio of public defenders from Passaic County represented the group. Five of the six had performers by their side and were wearing headphones to hear the audience chatter translated from English to Spanish.

Judy Fallon, a public defender who represented Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Taverez, said the defendants were concerned for the safety of their families.

"Just go to social networks to see that the moods are very, very high, which is understandable," she said. "It's a terrible and terrible case, I'm just asking people to let the system run its course."

Kevin J. Alvarez, 19, went on Sunday. He was arrested Monday and charged with second degree murder, manslaughter, assault and assault. The investigators said they believed that it was Mr. Alvarez who entered the bodega and dragged Lesandro down the street, where he was stabbed several times.

At least two of the detained men do not have an arrest record, a police official said, but five others have already been arrested.

Lesandro, known as Junior, wanted to be a police detective and had participated in the Explorers program, a program of the New York Police Department for high school students. He was a sophomore at the Dr. Richard Izquierdo School of Health and Science, where his classmate Michael Saster, 18, described him as "a good boy" who never did anything of badness.

News of the latest arrest came as Lesandro's family was mourning when they woke up at Ralph G. Ortiz Funeral Home on Southern Boulevard. Lesandro lay in an open coffin, dressed in his police inspector's jacket, draped in a Yankees jersey from New York, surrounded by dozens of bouquets of flowers. His mother, Leandra Feliz, was sitting alone on a couch nearby as people stood in front of them, showing respect.

The mayor, in a speech at Inside City Hall, a live show on NY1, said Lesandro was a teenager on the right track and that the city's "violence problem is largely a gang problem." .

"The people who have committed this horrible crime, I am very sure that they will all be rolled up and that they will spend a lot of time in jail," said de Blasio.

A funeral for Lesandro is scheduled at Notre Dame du Mont Carmel in the Bronx on Wednesday at 9:30 am.