11th Suspect Arrested in Machete Killing of 15-Year-Old Boy

What to Know

• Eleven people have now been arrested in the machete killing of 15-year-old Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman-Feliz[hhmc]

• The teenager, known as Junior, was stabbed in the neck with a machete in front of a Bronx bodega in late June[hhmc]

• The case has drawn national attention for its caught-on-camera brutality[hhmc]

An 11th suspect has been arrested in connection with last month's machete killing of 15-year-old Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz, a case that has drawn national attention for its caught-on-camera brutality.

Danilo Payamps Pacheco, 21, was arrested Friday, a day after authorities released a surveillance image of a man with his hair in a bun seen fleeing the scene of the machete kill in a white four-door sedan.

He faces charges of murder, gang assault and other crimes in the death of Guzman-Feliz. It wasn't clear if he had attorney. It's the third arrest in the case this week alone; ninth and 10th suspects, including a high-ranking member of a New York City street gang, were arrested Tuesday in the ongoing investigation into the boy's death outside a bodega in the Bronx June 20. Police have said the alleged killers appear to have targeted the teenager by mistake.

The alleged Trinitarios gangster, identified as 29-year-old Diego Suero, and a 26-year-old man, Gabriel Ramirez Concepcion, were arrested on charges of murder, manslaughter, gang assault, conspiracy and criminal possession of a weapon, police said.

Hearing of the new arrests earlier this week, the boy's father, Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, told News 4, "That's good news. I want everyone caught. I want justice for Junior."

Guzman-Feliz was dragged outside the bodega and set upon by a gang of men who hacked at him as he struggled to defend himself. The boy was slashed in the neck and died after running to a hospital three blocks away.

The owner of a bodega said that he had tried to protect Guzman-Feliz, who attempted to hide behind the counter. He said he called 911 after the gang members dragged him out of the store and stabbed him.

The bodega has not reopened since Guzman-Feliz's killing; the sidewalk outside the store has become such a sprawling memorial for the teen that his family visits to maintain all the flowers, balloons, candles and messages that have been left there in Junior's honor.

"I stay here because I want to clean everything nice, put everything clean, but I want justice for him," said his father. "We don't stop. Everybody pray for that."

"They don't stop. They have more. For the Trinitario, they got more. Everybody has to pay for my son."

Trinitarios Gangster Cuffed in Killing of Boy

Guzman-Feliz had been part of the NYPD's Explorers program, a group for youths interested in a law enforcement career. The New York City Police Foundation announced last week it planned to set up a scholarship in his name.

[contf] [contfnew]

USA Today

[contfnewc] [contfnewc]