Two members of the brutal MS-13 gang have pleaded guilty to accidentally killing a 17-year-old boy from Queens, admitting they did it to gain membership in the group.
Queens residents Juan Amaya Ramirez, 26, and Oscar Flores Mejia, 24, confessed to the 2018 murder of teenager Andy Peralta in Flushing's Quisena Park, mistakenly believing Peralta was a member of a rival gang.
The two also pleaded guilty to numerous other crimes, including cyberstalking resulting in death, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of organized crime, conspiracy to commit assault in aid of organized crime and assault in aid of organized crime, New York Homeland Security Investigations said in a statement.
“MS-13's brutal violence knows no bounds, and the defendants' admissions to murder are a reminder of how street gang violence results in countless senseless deaths,” said HSI New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Darren B. McCormack.
“HSI New York and the entire law enforcement community remains committed to disrupting and dismantling MS-13 and other violent gangs to promote public safety in our communities.”
HSI said Flores Mejia and Amaya Ramirez recruited Peralta's then-girlfriend, Leila Carranza, to lure Peralta to the park through social media and kill him.
The two defendants and an unidentified third suspect beat, stabbed and strangled the boy to death in a vile ambush, after which Amaya Ramirez posed for a selfie with fellow thugs holding up MS-13 gang signs over Peralta's bloody, lifeless body.
“The senseless murder of Andy Peralta exemplifies the indiscriminate cruelty of MS-13 violence.
“With today's plea agreement, the defendants acknowledged their roles in this brutal crime,” Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
“My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to bring justice and safety to the victims and communities affected by holding MS-13 members and associates accountable for their horrific crimes.”
Carranza previously pleaded guilty to cyberstalking resulting in Peralta's death and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Under the terms of the plea agreement, Flores Mejia and Amaya Ramirez face a minimum sentence of 30 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
