A gangster who was imprisoned for his part in the brutal murder of a 15-year-old boy hacked to death in New York says he now fears for his own life.
Kevin Alvarez allegedly snatched Lesandro Guzman-Feliz out of a bodega in the Bronx so that his accomplices could murder him. However, he is now denying responsibility, and claims to be scared for his life in prison.
Alvarez has admitted to being the man in the black hat and white shirt who dragged Lesandro out of the store, the MailOnline reports.
Alvarez also revealed he had to be transferred to a different prison because he was being threatened by other inmates.
He said:
I was scared. I don’t get scared. I was in the military, but I was so scared. People think I’m a monster. They want me dead.
Alvarez insisted he wasn’t aware of the knives and machetes his accomplishes were carrying, claiming he thought the plan was only to fight.
He said:
I thought it was just going to be a fight when I came out the store and I turned around and saw the machetes.
Alvarez was the first suspect arrested after he called a lawyer and turned himself in to authorities.
Lesandro Guzman-Feliz collapsed and died while running to a nearby hospital after being attacked by eight assailants. One police officer called it among the most brutal crimes he’d seen in his 36-year career.
Since the horrific crime, the leader of the gang has ‘apologised’ after claiming the murder was a case of mistaken identity.
All eight suspects, who authorities say are part of the Trinitarios gang, have now been arrested and are facing murder, manslaughter and gang assault charges.
Detectives say a homemade sex tape was posted to Facebook which may have sparked the attack, with the gang members potentially mistaking Lesandro for a similar-looking curly haired young man who faces the camera in the tape.
Police say a nude young woman in the video might be related to one of the attackers and they are investigating whether he rallied his friends to seek revenge.
Guzman-Feliz, known as Junior to his loved ones, had dreams of joining the police and his mother paid tribute to her ‘sweet’ son.
Leandra Feliz, 48, said:
He was my angel. He was a sweet child. But they killed my son like he was junk.
Since he was 5 years old, he told me, ‘Mommy, I want to be a police
He loved the police car [He said], ‘I wanna drive the police car’.
A member of Junior’s family set up a GoFundMe page, saying:
I opened up a GoFundMe account for my brother in law and he’s family due to financial difficulties at this moment since he’s death was so sudden and tragic.
He was 15 yrs old and was stabbed to death by a group of multiple men. Anything donated will be greatly appreciated. We appreciate your help and your prayers thank you very much.
So far, the page – to which Cardi B made her donation public – has raised over $300,000.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.