The teen was brutally murdered by alleged gang members last June.
"Justice for Junior" is a cry that continues to resound in the Bronx. This week, Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz, who was brutally stabbed by alleged gang members in a slaying that shook New York City, was honored with a street named in memory of him.
The new street, Lesandro Guzman-Feliz Way, is on the corner of East 183rd and Bathgate Avenue where the 15-year-old was killed by several men last June. Lesandro was dragged out of a bodega and stabbed several times with a machete in an attack that was captured on camera.
Junior’s family, City Council Member Ritchie Torres and members of the NYPD Explorers program, which Junior was a part of, gathered to unveil the sign Tuesday.
"This is all special," Junior’s mom, Leandra Feliz, said. "I'm so surprised. I wasn't expecting. That's what I said before. God is blessing us and blessing all of you to be here and to do that for me and my son.”
The family also received a copy of the sign to take home.
”I'm going to put the sign in the middle of the house,” Junior’s dad, Elisandro Guzman, said.
Junior’s murder was a case of mistaken identity by alleged gang members, police said. Fourteen people have been charged in connection with the slaying.
His death prompted the #justiceforjunior hashtag and celebrities like Cardi B, a Bronx native, spoke out about the violence in the city in the aftermath of the murder.
"It is Junior's memory that inspired the mayor and the City Council to bring new gang violence prevention services to the 48th Precinct,” Torres said during the ceremony. "We should remember Junior not only for the tragic loss of his life in an unspeakable act of violence, but also for the lives he has saved and the lives he will save with the legacy he left behind."
RELATED STORIES
