Spanish
The gang member convicted of killing 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzmán-Feliz was found dead in a New York City jail on Friday, according to the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision website.
Jonaiki Martínez-Estrella, 31, was found dead at Coxsackie Correctional Facility, where he was serving a sentence of 25 years to life with the possibility of parole for second-degree murder.
Martínez-Estrella had originally been sentenced on October 11, 2019, to life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder, because the crime included an element of torture. He was found guilty of causing the neck wound that killed Guzmán-Feliz on June 20, 2018.
You can also read: NYC approves $116 billion budget for 2026
However, an appeals court overturned in 2023 the first-degree murder conviction, disagreeing with the torture element. Martinez-Estrella was sentenced again in May 2025. Guzmán-Feliz was chased by four vehicles full of members of the Trinitarios gang, who mistakenly thought he belonged to a rival gang. The teenager tried to take refuge in a bodega, but was forcibly removed and stabbed on the sidewalk of Bathgate Avenue. He managed to reach St. Barnabas Hospital, where he collapsed and died of blood loss. At least 13 gang members have been convicted, many of them to sentences ranging from 25 years to life imprisonment. Some accepted plea deals with the prosecution for charges of manslaughter.
