The three Trinitarios gang members accused of helping hack a 15-year-old boy to death in a Bronx bodega have been pictured looking defeated and downcast in their deserted unit at Rikers. The suspects Danel Fernandez, 21; Jose Muniz, 21; and Santiago Rodriguez, 24 have been separated from the general population after receiving a barrage of death threats. In a new photo, first obtained by Pix11, Muniz who is accused of hacking Leandro 'Junior' Guzman-Feliz to death with a machete is seen leaning against a wall in the almost-empty prison unit in the GRVC Building, typically meant for 50 inmates. His fellow alleged gang members Fernandez and Rodriguez are sat on the floor. Rodriguez hugs his knees and hangs his head, while Fernandez stares up at Muniz in the picture, taken from surveillance footage at Rikers Island.
Other inmates at Rikers - including members of the Trinitarios gang, which the suspects are allegedly members of - reportedly 'want blood from them' after video footage of the brutal bodega murder went viral. A source said that this was the first time an entire unit at the jail had been dedicated to just three men.' You have every Latin gang, including the Trinitarios, after them,' the source told New York PIX11. 'They brought a lot of heat to the Trinitarios gang, which is why they are making threats against their own right now.' Fernandez, Muniz and Rodriguez are occupying three cells inside a unit at the George R. Vierno Center, leaving all 47 others empty. A recent fall in the jail population means there is plenty of spare capacity.
Their alleged accomplice, Manuel Rivera, 18, is also being held at Rikers but is in the general population as he is seen as less at risk. The other four suspected gangsters accused over Guzman-Feliz's killing are in other jails. They are Jose Tavarez, 21; Elvin Garcia, 28; Joni Martinez, 24; and Kevin Alvarez, 19. Two more suspects were arrested and taken into custody on Tuesday over the killing, including 29-year-old Diego Suero, who is accused of ordering the attack.
He was charged with murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon. Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, 26, who is also accused of being involved in Guzman-Feliz's death, was led out of the 48th precinct on Tuesday. Any time one of the four at Rikers need to move, they must be accompanied by two jail officers in addition to a captain filming on a camera.
Protective measures are standard procedure in most jails for high-profile inmates or those under threat. Another source was quoted telling the New York Post,'Everyone wants a piece of them. They got round-the-clock security at their door You can't get near them. 'Prosecutors say the shocking murder was a case of mistaken identity when one of the gang members falsely believed Guzman to be a man he'd seen having sex with a female love interest in a Snapchat video. The case has drawn national outrage and fury at the Dominican street gang, with one member even apologizing to the victim's family over social media. On Saturday, two of the suspects spoke out to protest their innocence, saying they had no part in the grisly crime. Martinez-Estrella told the New York Daily News that he was hundreds of miles away in Pennsylvania when Guzman was forcibly dragged from the bodega and hacked to death on the sidewalk.
Police say that Martinez-Estrella was the one who delivered the fatal blow that ended Guzman's life. But his defence attorney points out that the attacker caught on tape has a tattoo on his neck, while his client does not.'Look at my neck,' said Martinez-Estrella. 'I have nothing.'Meanwhile, Tavarez told the newspaper that his sole focus over the last year has been working towards earning his high school diploma and avoiding street violence.
'I'm a guy who works and studies,' Tavarez claimed from behind bars. 'I don't have the heart to kill anyone.'While Tavarez admits he was at the bodega on the night of Guzman's killing, he said that Martinez-Estrella was not. He also said that he ran the moment someone pulled out a weapon.' I ran into the bodega because I was afraid,' Tavarez said in Spanish. 'I saw the guys with the machete and I got scared.'
