Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz‘s memory was honored in a recent ceremony as the NYPD, family and friends gathered this past weekend to commemorate what would have been the teen’s 22nd birthday.
Bronx community honors Guzman-Feliz’s life and legacy
According to News 12 Long Island, attendees released balloons earlier this month outside the 45th Precinct in the Bronx, New York, to celebrate. Guzman-Feliz was 15 years old when he was brutally attacked and killed by a local gang in 2018.
Police told the news outlet that Guzman-Feliz signed up to be part of the NYPD Explorers Program just days before his death. The department created the initiative for young people interested in law enforcement careers.
Friends of Lesandro Guzman-Feliz exit as his body is taken from Our Lady of Mount Carmel church after funeral services on June 27, 2018 in New York | DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images
Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz (@longlivelesandro) • Instagram photos and videos
The NYPD vows to protect Guzman-Feliz’s family
Guzman-Feliz’s mother, Leandra Feliz, said that Monday would have been her son’s 22nd birthday and stressed her determination to keep his memory alive.
“My son is not coming back,” Feliz said. “Every day, I miss him more and more.”
“I don’t want people to forget him,” she added.
NYPD officials said Guzman-Feliz would always be part of their family and that they would always look out for his loved ones, per News 12.
“We lost Junior, but you gained 51,000 members in your family,” Mark T. Stewart, deputy commissioner of community affairs, said at Saturday’s ceremony.
Gang members convicted in Guzman-Feliz’s death
As Blavity reported, Guzman-Feliz was stabbed to death outside of a bodega on Bathgate Avenue in June 2018. Surveillance camera footage captured the 15-year-old being chased into the bodega by several men. The store owner then denied him help, and members of the Trinitario gang dragged him out and fatally attacked him with a machete. City officials and residents later called for the establishment to shut down after the incident.
During the investigation, gang members confirmed they mistook Guzman-Feliz for someone else in a case of mistaken identity, per Blavity. They were initially searching for a person who resembled him and was allegedly responsible for circulating a teen girl’s sex tape. They later apologized for the killing.
The case spanned several years, as three trials were held to address how 14 gang members played a role in the killing of Guzman-Feliz, CBS News reported. While many of them were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison, two were released after cooperating with the district attorney.
The post Lesandro ‘Junior’ Guzman-Feliz Honored With Remembrance Ceremony Ahead Of What Would Have Been His 22nd Birthday appeared first on Blavity.
