The Killing of Jr in The Bronx, Now They Pay The Piper
Thirteen men in total were implicated in the case and have served time. The men sentenced on Friday, who had argued that they were not directly involved in the killing of the 15-year-old in 2018, had all agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in the first degree in exchange for specific sentences.
Previous coverage of the Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz caseThe prison terms issued on Friday ranged from 12 to 18 years.
Ralph Fabrizio formally announced each man’s sentence after Junior’s mother, Leandra Feliz, made a statement in court in Spanish. Through a court translator, she said that she’d wanted more harsh prison terms for the convicts.
“If I had the power to sentence these men, I’d make it 300 years as an example,” Feliz said. “These killers should never be able to step out of their cell so they know that by taking the life of my son, they take away their life as well.”
The defendants and their sentences are:
- Danilo Payamps Pacheco, 12 years
- Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, 12 years
- Ronald Urena, 15 years
- José Tavarez, 15 years
- Danel Fernandez, 18 years
Fernandez’s sentence was 15 years, plus an additional three years due to an unrelated weapons case.
Two of the men, Fernandez and Urena, chose to speak in court. Urena asked Junior’s mother to forgive him. Fernandez apologized first to his own family, which prompted the judge, Ralph Fabrizio, to rebuke Fernandez for not asking for forgiveness from Junior’s family first.
“I don’t share [your attorney’s] optimism that you understand,” Judge Fabrizio said.
At least two of the five men sentenced on Friday are foreign nationals. They face deportation when their prison terms end.
They are the last in a list of 14 men tried and convicted in the case over the last four-and-a-half years.
More Bronx newsIn an earlier trial, the man convicted of the stabbing that took Junior’s life, Jonaiki Martinez Estrella , was sentenced to life without parole; Manuel Rivera received a 23 years to life sentence. Three other defendants in that trial received sentences of 25 years to life: Elvin Garcia, Jose Muniz and Antonio Rodriguez Santiago .
In another trial, the men convicted of masterminding the attack, Diego Suero and Frederick Then , received sentences of 25 years to life. Also, earlier this week, another defendant, Luis Cabrera Santos , received a 12 year sentence.
One other person involved in the attack, Kevin Alvarez , cooperated with prosecutors to make a case against the other men involved. In exchange for his cooperation, Alvarez was sentenced to the time he’d already served in jail awaiting trial and was released.
In Friday’s hearing, Judge Fabrizio pointed out that one reason the whole process had taken so long was that proceedings were stopped for an extensive period of time because of the pandemic.
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