WARNING: Graphic content
“I know it doesn’t mean a lot. It wasn’t supposed to be him.”
A case of mistaken identity has left an innocent, teenage boy dead with a “gang leader” allegedly apologising to relatives of the teen who was left to die on the streets, the New York Post reported.
Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, 15, was dragged from a store in The Bronx on June 20 and butchered in the street “like an animal,” according to his heartbroken family.
“I’m sorry,” one of the messages from a “top leader” said, according to Derek Grullon, 19, the boyfriend of the victim’s sister, Genesis Collado-Feliz.
“I know it doesn’t mean a lot. It wasn’t supposed to be him,” the message continued.
The gang member affirmed in the two-minute Snapchat recording that the savages responsible have been booted from the notorious Dominican crew.
The brutal murder took place on Wednesday night where horrifying footage shows Lesandro Guzman-Feliz being dragged by the hood of his shirt outside of a store before he was repeatedly hacked to death.
He was steps away from a hospital.
The surveillance video released by police begins with two thugs dragging the teen before a third attacker is seen hacking at the shrieking boy with a machete.
Another joins and is seen repeatedly shanking Guzman-Feliz with a large blade before the group eventually speed off in two cars.
A visibly disorientated Guzman-Feliz, who police said was stabbed multiple times, including what appeared to be a huge gash to his neck, reappears from the corner screaming with his hands raised before running across the street.
Another graphic video posted to Facebook shows the victim, who was a student at the Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School, covered in blood from head to toe with his eyes wide open sitting on the sidewalk near St. Barnabas Hospital.
People around him are heard screaming. “No, no!” one woman says as she appears to apply pressure to his neck.
“Oh, my gosh! My little brother!” another person calls out during the chaotic scene.
People can be heard telling the boy, who was referred to as “junior,” to “keep his eyes open” as they encouraged him to “keep talking.”
Authorities say the victim had run into the store after being chased by the group, the New York Post reported.
Guzman-Feliz, who lived in the area with his family, ran toward nearby St. Barnabus Hospital before he died of his injuries just feet away, police said.
According to police, the victim, who had a clean record, knew the suspects.
A police source said that all of the suspects are part of a gang but that Guzman-Feliz was not.
Detectives are probing whether attackers mistook the teen for a person in a sex video featuring a relative of one of the attackers, two high-ranking police sources told the New York Post.
The victim’s older sister Genesis Collado-Feliz, 17, told The Post that her brother was “a good student” and “a good kid” who enjoyed playing Nintendo.
“He tried to run into the store because he thought he’d be safe. They dragged him from the store like a dog,” Collado-Feliz had said. “He is not a criminal.”
Rapper Cardi B shined a light on the brutal slaying. She posted a picture of Guzman-Feliz in the hospital, telling her 25.9 million Instagram followers: “These Bronx streets are ruthless,” with a #justiceforjunior.
Collado-Feliz credited Cardi B for sparking donations to a GoFundMe titled “Justice for Junior”.
The family launched the campaign to help out with funeral and other costs. It has raised more than $AU137,000 of a $15,000 goal in just three days with more than 5800 people donating.
Along with surveillance video of the males believed to be involved in the encounter, NYPD Chief Terence Monahan tweeted: “The stabbing murder of this young man is among the most brutal crimes I’ve seen in my 36yr career.”
NYPD Chief Dermot F. Shea also tweeted about the fatality, pleading for help getting “#JUSTICEFORJUNIOR.”
Shea said that Guzman-Feliz had wanted to be an NYPD detective.
“He was never going to give up on his dream of being an NYPD detective & WE’LL NEVER GIVE UP ON HIM,” the tweet read.
He confirmed today, arrests have been made with details to follow. “This is still an active investigation. Your tips have been invaluable! (sic)”
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