THE BRONX, N.Y. (PIX11) – Danel Fernandez, a purported gang member allegedly seen on video dragging 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz out of a bodega before the teen was fatally stabbed in 2018, rejected a plea deal on Wednesday that would have sent him to prison for 18 years.
Defense attorney Patrick Higgins told PIX11 News that his client won’t take the offer from the Bronx district attorney’s office. Higgins said Fernandez was willing to plead guilty to manslaughter for a 15-year sentence, but the Bronx District Attorney’s office rejected the counteroffer.
The other man who dragged “Junior” out of the bodega that night, Kevin Alvarez, made a deal to testify against the other gang members before the first trial in 2019. Alvarez recently testified in the second murder trial that sent two leaders of the Los Sures gang to prison with sentences of 25 years to life.
Fernandez was allegedly seen the night of June 20, 2018, as he ran down East 183rd Street with Trinitarios gang members who were pursuing “Junior.” Four cars were also part of the chase.
The gang members mistakenly thought “Junior” — who had just finished his second year of high school — was part of a rival set of the Trinitarios organization. The terrified teen ran out of his sandals as he sought refuge behind the counter of a bodega on Bathgate Avenue. The gang caught up with the teen, dragged him outside, and brutally beat and stabbed him to death with knives and machetes.
In another case development, Jose Tavarez, the Trinitarios member who ran into the bodega four seconds after “Junior” — spotting the teen cowering under a sink — recently pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree and gun possession in a different case. Tavares is expected to get 15 years in prison when he’s sentenced in January.
Fernandez was supposed to appear in court Wednesday with the four, last defendants, who also received plea offers of 12 or 13 years in prison. The remaining defendants would have to plead guilty to manslaughter in the first degree as part of the agreement.