NYPD honors Lesandro 'Junior' Guzman-Feliz with posthumous promotion during vigil

(@NYPDShea/Twitter)

By Anthony Payero

(THE BRONX, N.Y.) The New York City Police Department honored Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz on Monday, three years after the 15-year-old was killed, with a posthumous promotion to NYPD Explorer deputy chief. He was promoted during a vigil held on the corner where he was slain by Trinitarios gang members, according to PIX 11.

Guzman-Feliz was part of the NYPD's Explorers Program, which "provides young men and women from the city's diverse communities with an introduction to a career in law enforcement or a related field in the criminal justice system," according to its website.

NYPD Chief of Community Affairs Jeffrey Maddrey spoke at the vigil Monday, saying he believed the teen would have completed the program and continued his work in the community if not for his murder.

During the event, Maddrey and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea promised Leandra Feliz. the 15-year-old's mother, that they would be there for the family.

“We will do everything in our power to be there not only for this family, but for every family in the Bronx to make sure no mother has to go through this pain ever again,” Shea said.

Shea hugged Feliz at the vigil, who was sporting a shirt with her son's face on it. Maddrey and Shea gifted Feliz a plaque for the teen's promotion.

“Three years ago on this corner, we lost a member of our family,” Shea said.

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