Teen’s slaying prompts massive public response

<p>Thousands of people visited a Southern Boulevard funeral parlor to pay their respects to a slain Bronx teen for the second straight day Tuesday.</p>

News 12 Staff

Jun 26, 2018, 11:11 AM

Updated 2,140 days ago

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Thousands of people visited a Southern Boulevard funeral parlor to pay their respects to a slain Bronx teen for the second straight day Tuesday.
The graphic violence preceding his death circulated widely in surveillance video posted to social media. It shows a group of men dragging 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, also known as Junior, along the ground as he claws helplessly at the brick wall of a bodega. 
The men repeatedly hacked and stabbed him and then ran off.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: #JusticeForJunior
The video shows Guzman-Feliz stumbling with blood gushing from his throat before heading toward a nearby hospital, where police say he died.
"When you look at where he was assaulted and the proximity of the hospital, it explains the nature of the wounds -- that he expired so quickly," said NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea.
Six men who New Jersey police arrested in connection with the brutal slaying last week are on their way to New York after extradition hearings.
Four of them are Bronx residents: Jose Taverez, 21, Manuel Rivera, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, and Santiago Rodriguez, 24. 
Jose Muniz, 21 is from New Jersey, and Joniki Martinez, 24, is from Freeport, on Long Island.
Another suspect, 19-year-old Kevin Alvarez, was arraigned here Monday on charges that include murder and gang assault.
At least some of the suspects are believed to have ties to the violent Trinitarios gang, police say.
Guzman-Feliz was a member of the NYPD's Explorers program, which aims to introduce young people to careers in law enforcement and criminal justice. He wanted to become a detective.
The wake is at the Ralph G. Ortiz Funeral Home on Southern Boulevard. Maybe people in attendance said they never actually knew Junior, but they wanted to show their support after hearing about the crime.
Guzman-Feliz will be laid to rest at St. Raymond's Cemetery on Wednesday.
Sources say the teen may have been targeted because the suspects mistook him for someone else.


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