Survivor describes deadly MS-13 ambush after LI woman allegedly lured teens
The only real survivor of a lethal Lengthy Island bloodbath by the infamous MS-13 gang described in court docket Monday how he ran for his life as one of many machete-wielding thugs shouted, “Hack him!”
Elmer Alexander Arteaga Ruiz, 22, delivered his chilling testimony as he got here head to head with Leniz Escobar — the steely-eyed defendant dubbed the “Little Satan” — for the primary time since she allegedly lured his 4 friends to their deaths in 2017.
A mugshot of Escobar, a ok a “Diablita” in Spanish, was launched Monday and reveals her giving a chilly useless stare to the digicam whereas smirking.
Ruiz, requested on the stand about Escobar’s “Little Satan” Snapchat deal with, stated, “It match her nicely.”
The witness testified in federal court docket in Central Islip that Escobar, 22, lured him and the opposite younger males to smoke marijuana at a neighborhood park — however they had been quickly ambushed by MS-13 gangsters.
“They got here via a gap within the fence,” he stated of the group’s attackers. “There have been eight or 9. They lined their faces with sweaters. They got here and fashioned a semi-circle. They informed us get down on our knees.
“They stated, ‘Don’t transfer. Whoever strikes, dies,’ ” he recalled.”I ran as a result of the primary phrases they stated was that we had been going to die, they had been going to kill us, and so they had weapons.”
Ruiz’s 4 buddies tried to flee, too. However they couldn’t get away quick sufficient and had been butchered on the scene.
Federal prosecutors stated throughout opening statements that the victims had been “simply high-school youngsters” who had been “attempting to look powerful” by flashing gang indicators on social media — however that MS-13 members took the postings as an indication of “disrespect.”
Ruiz stated he was simply attempting to choose up women when he posted the pictures of him and his buddies, “not pondering of the results.
“I used to be going via a season the place I believed this made me look good with girls as a result of regardless that it sounds silly, there are girls who like males like that,” stated the witness, who was additionally recognized as “Alex” by prosecutors in court docket.
“As a result of I had seen girls who preferred somebody who regarded like they had been from the streets,” he stated. “They've silly minds like I had on the time.”
However Escobar allegedly tipped off the vicious gang to the victims’ pictures and lured the younger males to the park that day in a bid to curry favor with the killers, stated Assistant US Legal professional Megan Farrell in her opening statements.
“As they had been killed, [the victims] wailed in ache and crammed the park with their terrified screams,” the prosecutor stated.
“Alex was not within the gang,” Farrell stated. “He was not in MS-13, however he did submit photos of him and his buddies holding up the indicators and posing like members of MS-13.
“They had been simply high-school youngsters,” she stated. “They had been attempting to look powerful and get consideration. The members of MS-13 noticed these photos on social media and noticed these photos as a deep signal of disrespect, sufficient to justify loss of life.
“The MS-13 crew got here out from the darkness, screaming orders that they had been all to get down on the bottom,” she stated. “The defendant pretended to be one of many victims and obtained down. The true victims took off operating, however Alex was the one one quick sufficient to flee. The opposite 4 had been hacked to loss of life.”
Escobar is dealing with homicide, racketeering and conspiracy expenses within the April 11, 2017, assault at a Central Islip park, the place the victims’ mangled our bodies had been later discovered.
Killed within the carnage had been Justin Llivicura, 16, Michael Lopez, 20, Jorge Tigre, 18, and Jefferson Villalobos, 18, in line with police.
In court docket, Escobar wore skintight black pants, a black shirt and a white-and-black jacket with a herringbone sample.
“Massive day,” she was overheard telling her attorneys at one level.
Farrell stated Escobar “bragged about her vital position within the murders” the following day and informed her boyfriend one sufferer escaped.
“The day after the murders, she informed her boyfriend that ‘4 took the practice and noticed the sunshine. One obtained away,’ ” Farrell stated.
Escobar informed her boyfriend “she did it to be completely happy, in order that she might be completely happy,” the prosecutor stated.
Farrell stated Escobar lied to police and tried to destroy proof by hurling her cell phone out of a transferring automotive when police had been tailing her.
Alex, who confirmed up on the native police station with distraught kin of the victims to report them lacking, later led authorities to the bloody scene.
“[The victims] had been dragged,” Nassau County Detective Donald Britton testified Monday. “Their shirts had been pulled up round their necks. They had been mendacity on prime of one another. There was quite a lot of blood. Sure, they had been deceased.”
Family members of the victims wailed in court docket when a photograph of the slay scene was proven.
Protection lawyer Keith White stated throughout his opening statements that his shopper didn't know the victims can be attacked.
“Leniz didn’t know most of the attackers or that these males can be killed,” White stated.
He stated Escobar’s companion, who allegedly helped lead the boys to their deaths, in addition to two of the accused attackers had minimize offers with prosecutors to testify in change for extra lenient sentences.
Talking exterior the courthouse, protection lawyer Jesse Siegel would solely say, “Miss Escobar maintains her innocence.”
Escobar’s trial is predicted to final three to 4 weeks.
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