In the early morning hours of September 6, 2020, a dispute in Hempstead, New York, turned fatal for 22-year-old Edwin Guerrero. The tragic events unfolded around 3:55 a.m. on High Street when a verbal argument broke out between passengers in a taxi minivan. As one passenger exited the vehicle, the altercation continued, and another passenger, Denis Gutierrez-Marcos, leaned forward from his seat behind the driver and fired a gun through an open window.
The initial shot struck a man in the shoulder.
Witnessing the shooting of his friend, Edwin Guerrero chased after the taxi as it began to drive away. When Guerrero reached the vehicle and attempted to open the passenger door, Gutierrez-Marcos fired again through the window, striking him. Emergency services were called to the scene, and Guerrero was transported to Nassau University Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead from his injuries. The first man who was shot was treated at a hospital and survived.
The investigation into the drive-by shooting led police to identify Denis Gutierrez-Marcos, then 18 years old, as the shooter. He was arrested in June 2021 by the Nassau County Police Department Gang Squad. Authorities alleged that Gutierrez-Marcos was a member of the MS-13 street gang and that the shooting was motivated by the victims allegedly disrespecting the gang.
In February 2023, Denis Gutierrez-Marcos, at the age of 20, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the death of Edwin Guerrero. He also pleaded guilty to attempted murder and criminal possession of a weapon for the September 2020 incident and another shooting that occurred in October 2020. For his crimes, he was expected to receive a sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
