The girlfriend of one of the 14 suspected gang members facing criminal charges for last year’s stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy testified in a New York court that her boyfriend had pointed himself out in surveillance footage which showed the teen’s murder.
WPIX reports that on Tuesday, Yudelvi Mena, 21, said in court that Elvin Garcia, 23, had her come over to his Bronx home hours after the slaying. She recalled noticing a hole which went through one of Garcia’s hands—which prosecutors said co-defendant Manuel Rivera, 18, caused as the mob of men beat and stabbed Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz in front of a bodega on June 20.
Mena reportedly claimed Garcia wrapped up the wound with a tank top before they went to the hospital. There, she told hospital staff that Garcia had sustained the injury during a fight with three men in a park.
According to the news station, Mena testified that the two of them stayed at Garcia’s uncle’s home in Pennsylvania and returned to New York City on June 24. Shortly thereafter, police reportedly called Garcia and requested him to go to the precinct.
Mena also testified that Garcia had pointed himself out in the video showing the 15-year-old’s death. Prosecutors said Garcia was filmed wearing a black mask as he fatally stabbed the teen.
Surveillance cameras reportedly filmed the group of men chasing Guzman-Feliz into a bodega before dragging him onto the sidewalk and beating and mortally wounding him. The teen reportedly fled the scene but bled to death before reaching a hospital.
The 14 suspects are all reportedly members of the Sures set of the Trinitarios gang. The suspects allegedly targeted Guzman-Feliz because they believed he was affiliated with a rival gang responsible for shooting one of their members two days earlier. However, police have said the teen’s murder was a case of mistaken identity.
Garcia and four other men are currently on trial for the 2018 slaying.
[Featured image: Lesandro Guzman-Feliz/CCTV]
