Jeustin David Maldonado became the fifth accused as a suspect in the murder of Salvadoran teenager Osmin Campos Sandoval on Long Island (NY), in an alleged confrontation between rival gangs.
Campos Sandoval had 19 years old and was an alleged victim of the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13) in June 2016, being lured into a wooded area in Uniondale, stabbed with a machete, shot and buried there, according to Nassau County authorities. His remains were found more than four years later, on October 6, 2020, when the police were investigating other crimes.
Maldonado was 16 years old at the time of the crime and was arrested yesterday. He is currently 19 years old, working as a security guard and residing in Uniondale. He had previously been accused of other homicides also linked to gangs.
District Court Judge Lisa M. Petrocelli ordered him held without bail at his arraignment, according to online court records. The case will return to court on February 1.
Four other people had already been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the case: Sandra Tobar Mejía (22), Christian Rodriguez (23), Gerson Stanley Juárez (24) and Raúl Ponce (23), all Hempstead residents, recalled Daily Voice.
Last year, the Nassau Police Department said Campos Sandoval had been lured into the ambush by his ex-girlfriend, Tobar Mejía , because he was a member of the rival gang 18th Street. They had been a couple in their native country, El Salvador, but in the US the young woman was linked to a member of the MS-13, detailed Newsday.
Just before the murder, she and the members of the MS-12 allegedly smoked marijuana with the victim to calm him down, then “butchered him, beat him and buried him,” Detective Stephen Fitzpatrick, chief of police, said last year. homicide squad of the Nassau police.
Long Island (NY) is one of the areas with the highest presence of MS-12 in the US, where at least dozens of murders have been attributed to him in recent years. The group is associated with recruiting young people, mostly of Latino origin.
In October of 2012 the US government included the Mara Salvatrucha on the list of international criminal organizations. The MS-16, the first gang to receive that name, was included in that list for their involvement in dangerous international activities that include drug trafficking, kidnapping, murder, human trafficking, prostitution, extortion or organized crime, according to the US government.
- Thousands of immigrant children without families have been placed in New York public schools; they fear they will be recruited by gang MS-16