A member of the notorious MS-13 street gang has been charged with murder after Nassau police officers recovered a buried body in East Meadow, New York.
Carlos Benitez-Hernandez, 21, of Uniondale, was one of five or more MS-13 gangsters who brutally hacked to death a young man using machetes in August 2017, News12 reported.
Benitez-Hernandez was arraigned on August 30 in First District Court in Hempstead on a charge of second-degree murder.
Detective Lieutenant Stephen Fitzpatrick, Commanding Officer of the Nassau County police department Homicide Squad, held a press conference on August 30 where he outlined the facts of the case.
Lt. Fitzpatrick described Benitez-Hernandez as a “self-admitted MS-13” gang member. He said Benitez-Hernandez had a criminal history including gang assault, weapons charges and victim intimidation, Newsday reported.
The victim’s name has not yet been released but “we believe we know who it is,” said Lt. Fitzpatrick, adding that the teen had likely been killed because of MS-13’s “displeasure with his actions.”
Benitez-Hernandez was free on parole on local charges but was in federal custody for an immigration violation at the time of his arraignment.
Lt. Fitzpatrick told News 12 that at least five people associated with the crime were already in custody.
Tip Reveals a Corpse
The body was recovered after someone called in a tip to Nassau County police to search near Kellenberg High School.
Nassau County detectives, working jointly with Homeland Security and the DEA, followed up on the tip and found the remains of a teenage male, according to a police report.
Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder told the assembled reporters that the body was buried in a shallow grave in a wooded area, the Long Island Herald reported.
The Long Island Herald reported that this was the sixth time this year that police had discovered bodies of people killed by MS-13 gangsters.
Victims have been found in the woods between Freeport and Merrick, as well as Freeport and Massapequa, in New York.
Police say MS-13’s preferred style of execution is to lure people into wooded areas and to hack them to pieces with knives and machetes, Long Island Herald reported.
“Again we are reminded of the brutality of gang violence,” said County Executive Laura Curran said at a news conference after the latest set of remains was recovered.
“There are too many parents, too many families who have seen their children butchered by these gangs and this must stop.”
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