Eighth Arrest Made In Stabbing Of 15-Year-Old Lesandro Guzman-Feliz

Police have arrested an eighth suspect in last week’s stabbing death of a 15-year-old boy outside of a New York bodega in what’s believed to have been a case of mistaken identity.

Elvin Garcia, 23, of the Bronx was taken into custody Tuesday night for the murder of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, who was filmed being pulled out of the store by a group of men on June 20 who then slashed him to death on the sidewalk.

The deadly attack on the boy, a member of the New York Police Department Explorers program, has generated extensive coverage by the city’s media outlets.

Kevin Alvarez, 19, was arrested over the weekend in New York and charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, gang assault and assault.

Six suspects were arrested in Paterson, New Jersey, on Sunday. They have been identified as Jose Taverez, 21, Manuel Rivera, 18, Danel Fernandez, 21, and Santiago Rodriguez, 24, all of the Bronx; Jose Muniz, 21, of Paterson;  Joniki Martinez, 24, of Freeport, New York.

The suspects are believed to be members of the Dominican gang, Trinitarios. They were allegedly “hunting” for rival gang members in the Bronx when they came across Lesandro, who they believed to be in a gang, The New York Times reported, citing investigators in the case.

“They were out there hunting for [rivals] and they found this poor kid,” an official told the paper. “It’s a puzzle and we’re putting it together little by little. We want to know, obviously, why him? Why there? And, why so violent?”

Lesandro’s mother, speaking to ABC 7, described her son as “a good kid with a good heart” who dreamed of becoming a police detective one day.

“I feel dead right now,” Leandra Feliz told the station. “They broke my heart. They killed my son, and they killed me at the same time.”

His family asked that the public boycott the bodega where her son was attacked. They blame the store’s employees for failing to come to his aid, based on the surveillance camera that filmed the attack. The store has since closed its doors amid the brewing outrage.

On Wednesday morning, Lesandro’s funeral was held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the Bronx. As his casket was carried out of the church by pallbearers, a crowd chanted “Justice for Junior!”