Feds to seek death penalty for reputed MS-13 leader in killings of Kayla Cuevas, Nisa Mickens

The announcement comes one day after grand juries on Long Island and in Nevada handed up new charges against nearly two dozen MS-13 members.

News 12 Staff

Jul 15, 2020, 6:00 PM

Updated 1,796 days ago

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The Trump administration says it is now seeking the death penalty against Alexi Saenz – an alleged MS-13 leader who federal prosecutors say brutally murdered Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens, along with five others, in Brentwood in 2016.
"We believe the monsters who murder children should be put to death," President Donald Trump said.
The announcement comes one day after grand juries on Long Island and in Nevada handed up new charges against nearly two dozen MS-13 members. They range from drug dealing and kidnapping to murder and racketeering.
"Those are the actions we're taking, there's more coming as we can target the leadership of MS-13," said Attorney General Bill Barr. "Long Island is one of the hot beds of MS-13 activity, or at least it was."
Another indictment unsealed in Virginia against Melgar Diaz marks the first time the Justice Department has brought terrorism charges against a member of MS-13. Barr said Diaz would "green light assassinations."
President Trump went on to call MS-13 "probably the meanest, worst gang anywhere in the world…and a big dent was put in them."
Robert Mickens, father of Nisa Mickens, says that he is against the death penalty, but he overall applauds how effective the administration has been in eradicating the vicious street gang
"When I first heard about it, I was shocked," says Robert Mickens. "We're not God to take somebody's life ... why does another family have to suffer the way I'm suffering?"