In the spring of 2017, the life of a 16-year-old male, Julio Vasquez, was brutally cut short in a wooded area of Alley Pond Park in Queens, New York. His death was not a random act of violence but a calculated execution ordered by the leader of the Centrales Locos Salvatruchas clique of the notorious MS-13 gang. Vasquez, himself a member of the gang, had fallen out of favor with the clique's leader, Melvi Amador-Rios, who suspected the teenager of cooperating with law enforcement.
This suspicion arose after Vasquez failed to carry out a hit that Amador-Rios had ordered.
On the fateful day of May 16, 2017, Vasquez was lured into the park by fellow gang members Josue Leiva and Luis Rivas. There, in a secluded spot, Leiva and Rivas carried out the gruesome order, stabbing Vasquez more than 30 times and nearly decapitating him. They left his body in the woods, where it was discovered five days later by a bird watcher who was drawn to the scene by the smell of decomposition. The brutality of the murder sent shockwaves through the community and highlighted the violent nature of gang activity in the area.
The investigation into Vasquez's death led to the arrests of Amador-Rios, Leiva, and Rivas. The case culminated in a three-week federal trial where the heinous details of the murder and the inner workings of the MS-13 clique were laid bare. In August 2023, a federal jury convicted Melvi Amador-Rios on 17 of 18 counts, including racketeering and murder in-aid-of racketeering for ordering the hit on Vasquez. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 38 years.
His co-defendants, Josue Leiva and Luis Rivas, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges that included their roles in Vasquez's murder. In early 2024, both men were sentenced to 35 years in prison for their parts in the brutal slaying. The sentencings were seen by the U.S. Attorney's Office as a powerful message that such senseless and gratuitous violence would not be tolerated, bringing a measure of closure to the victim's family and the community.
