On Thursday, the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court overturned the first-degree murder conviction for the man who inflicted the fatal neck wound that killed 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz in 2018.
As reported by PIX11, the first-degree murder conviction of Bronx man Jonaiki Martinez-Estrella was vacated and he will now be re-sentenced for second-degree murder. “The evidence established that the defendant committed an extremely heinous second-degree murder," the appellate court ruled. "However, we vacate the conviction of first-degree murder under Penal Law 125.27 because the evidence did not establish the very specific elements of that crime.”
Martinez-Estrella was caught on video delivering a fatal stab wound to Junior’s neck on June 20, 2018 alongside several other members of the Trinitarios gang, who chased the 15-year-old because they believed he belonged to rival gang. He was among five gang members who were sentenced in the killing, and received life in prison without parole in 2019. The youngest attacker, Manuel Rivera, was sentenced to 23 years to life, while three others received 25 years to life.
The decision on Thursday comes down to the legal definition of first-degree murder, and the five-judge panel said prosecutors had failed to prove he engaged in a “course of conduct” to “torture” the victim. "That blow was a single act rather than a course of conduct," reads the verdict. "Thus, we find that defendant and his accomplices did not engage in a ‘course of conduct’ involving the intentional infliction of extreme physical pain.”
In a statement released on Thursday, Martinez-Estrella’s attorney said, "The Appellate Division did what the law required. There was simply no evidence that could have possibly satisfied the elements of first-degree murder on the theory of torture.” Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz fled the gang members before he was killed, and attempted to hide in a bodega before he was dragged out to the street and fatally attacked by the gang members.
