Government officials announced last Friday that a Bronx street will be named in honor of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, the 15-year-old boy killed in an apparent mistaken-identity stabbing.
According to the New York Daily News, City Councilman Ritchie Torres plans to rename 183rd and Bathgate Avenue “Lesandro Junior Way.” The corner is where members of the Trinitarios gang reportedly fatally beat and stabbed Guzman-Feliz to death that fateful evening of June 20.
“They’re going to keep the memory of my son alive, and people won’t want to forget the tragedy, how my son was brutally killed,”the slain teen’s mother told reporters.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, surveillance cameras captured a group of men dragging the 15-year-old outside a Bronx bodega before attacking him. The injured teen could be seen stumbling inside the bodega before exiting and making a run for the hospital. The teen reportedly took his last breaths mere steps away from the emergency room.
Police suspect the teen was mistaken for a rival gang member. Twelve men are currently in custody in connection with the June 20 slaying.
Officials told WPIX that the June 30 event wouldn’t be the formal street renaming ceremony but a presentation of what the street signs will look like once erected.
“The legacy that Junior leaves behind, summed up in #JusticeForJunior, has been an awakening for all of us,” Torres said, according to WABC. “It has become a national rallying cry against youth violence and gang violence in our streets.”
Additional reading:
Justice for Junior: Bodega where innocent teen was stabbed to death will reopen
Justice for Junior: Gang rivalry—not sex tape—leads to teen’s machete attack murder, officials say
Violent murder caught on video: Teen fatally stabbed in brutal machete attack
[Featured image: WABC video screengrab]
