After a five-month investigation, more than a dozen MS-13 gang members have been charged with seven murders, including those of three teenagers from Brentwood in Suffolk County. U.S. Attorney Robert Capers announced the charges.
Investigators found a connection to a series of murders in the Brentwood area last year, including those of 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas and 15-year-old Nisa Mickens.
“Kayla Cuevas was marked for death because she had feuded at school and over social media with various members of MS-13, and Ms. Mickens was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Cuevas and Mickens were murdered with a baseball bat and machete as they were walking from Cuevas’ home.
Capers also linked a third murder to the gang. Jose Pena-Hernandez was stabbed to death because the gang thought he was a snitch.
Police across the country are still looking for several of those indicted.