Murdered New York Teen Honored With Street Sign

NEW YORK—A New York City intersection has been renamed for a Bronx teenager who was killed in a brutal gang attack.

Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz was dragged out a bodega on 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue in the Bronx last June and was slashed to death by gang members wielding a machete.

Authorities say over a dozen gang members, who have been arrested and charged, attacked the teen in a case of mistaken identity.

The intersection of Bathgate Avenue and East 183rd Street will now be called “Lesandro Junior Guzman-Feliz Way.” City Councilman Ritchie Torres was joined by Guzman-Feliz’s family and members of the New York Police Department Explorer program for the dedication Wednesday, Feb. 27.

The 15-year-old was a member of the NYPD’s Explorer program and had dreamed of becoming a police officer.

Thousands Come Together

Thousands of mourners said farewell to the teenager whose brutal stabbing death shocked a Bronx community on June 20, 2018.

Funeral services were held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in the Bronx for 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, affectionately known as Junior, who was attacked by a gang of men outside a bodega on June 20, 2018. He collapsed and died while running to a nearby hospital after being stabbed and slashed in the neck with a machete.

The funeral ended with a crowd of several hundred outside the church chanting of “Justice for Junior!” as pallbearers dressed in Yankees jerseys loaded his casket into a hearse.

13 suspects have been arrested on murder, manslaughter and gang assault charges, including six who were extradited from New Jersey.

Authorities said the suspects are members of the Trinitarios gang. They said Guzman-Feliz, who dreamed of becoming a police officer and was a member of the NYPD’s Explorers program, may have been mistakenly targeted by the gang.

The boy’s killing was captured on video surveillance and was widely condemned. A makeshift memorial outside the bodega, which was visited by NBA star Carmelo Anthony, continues to grow.

Jose Bencosme holds a painting of his cousin 15-year-old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz, a gift from celebrity artist Samil Alva, as he visits a community memorial for Feliz who was killed on June 26, 2018, in a machete attack in N.Y. (Bebeto Matthews/AP)

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he wants to find a way to honor his memory by naming part of the Explorers program after him.

“We want the next generation of young people who want to serve in the police to know about the young man who didn’t’ get a chance to, and be inspired by him,” de Blasio said during “Inside City Hall,” live broadcast on NY1.