In the early hours of May 28, 2013, Keenan Russell, a 21-year-old aspiring hip-hop artist, was fatally shot on Acorn Avenue in Central Islip, New York. He was an unintended victim in a wave of gang violence that gripped the area. Russell was leaving a party when he was struck by a shotgun blast to the abdomen and died approximately 12 hours later at Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.
The investigation into Russell's death revealed a tragic case of mistaken identity. Members of the MS-13 street gang had been driving through Central Islip looking for rival gang members to target. They came across Russell, who was wearing an item of red clothing, and wrongly assumed him to be a member of the Bloods, a rival gang whose symbolic color is red. This mistaken assumption led to the senseless shooting.
He and another man, Derrick Mayes, who was killed two days earlier, were both murdered because of the color of their skin, the neighborhood they were in, and the incorrect belief that they were rival gang members.
In the immediate aftermath, an individual named Jeffry Rosales was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with Russell's death. However, a subsequent federal investigation led to charges against four members of the MS-13 gang for a series of violent crimes, including the murders of Keenan Russell and Derrick Mayes. The federally charged individuals were identified as Edwin Amaya-Sanchez, William Castellanos, and Jhonny Contreras, who faced murder charges, and Reynaldo Lopez-Alvarado, who was charged with attempted murder.
Years later, justice in Keenan Russell's case saw a significant development. In May 2022, Jhonny Contreras, a member of the Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, pleaded guilty to racketeering and firearms charges related to his participation in the murders of Keenan Russell, Derrick Mayes, and another individual. Contreras admitted to being in a stolen minivan with other MS-13 members, armed with multiple guns, when they came across Russell and opened fire.
