Detective: 2 suspected gang members are cooperating witnesses in Junior case

The trial continues against the men accused of murdering Belmont teen Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz.

News 12 Staff

May 16, 2019, 9:42 PM

Updated 1,816 days ago

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Detective: 2 suspected gang members are cooperating witnesses in Junior case
The trial continues against the men accused of murdering Belmont teen Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz.
Detective Francis Orlando testified Thursday that Michael Reyes (aka Sosa) and Kevin Alvarez both cooperated with police in the murder investigation.
Both suspected Trinitarios were captured on surveillance video inside the Belmont bodega the night Junior was stabbed. Alvarez was seen dragging the teen out.

Junior's character was also a subject of testimony on trial day five. He's been painted as an innocent victim thus far, but some defense lawyers attempted to discredit that notion Thursday.

Erica Tirado, whose sons were friends with Junior, says thinking he was anything other than innocent is ludicrous.

Detective Orlando testified Junior was headed to Adam’s Place, a known gang hangout for the Sunset chapter of the Trinitarios on the night of his death.
Orlando testified there was no video recording of the initial interaction between Junior and the suspects who were captured on video chasing him for blocks before he tried to take refuge in a bodega to no avail.

He testified that he had heard there was a shooting roughly two days before Junior's stabbing that may have had something to do with why Junior was targeted by alleged Los Sures, a  rival of Sunset, but only briefly looked into it saying, “it had nothing to do with my victim."

Defense attorney Kyle Watters, who represents Jonaiki Martinez Estrella, went as far as asking Detective Orlando if a person depicted in a group photo of alleged Sunset members was Junior. The detective denied it was.

Judge Robert Neary ruled evidence that Junior was in a gang is impermissible at this point because it would denigrate his character.
Another witness is scheduled to testify on Friday, the sixth day of the trial.


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