Notorious MS-13 Gang Member Charged With Brutal Murder Of Teen

Police in Nassau County, New York charged a 22-year-old MS-13 gang member for the murder of a 19-year-old victim. The victim is believed to have been lured to a wooded area in Hempstead, Long Island where he was brutally attacked and killed. The gang-related murder led to the arrest of a total of five individuals.

Jeustin David Maldonado has been charged with multiple gang-related murders. The accused is already serving a sentence for the murder of 16-year-old Alexon Moya. Nassau County District Attorney's office confirmed that the accused has been serving his sentence since 2017.

On Tuesday, Jan. 18 Maldonado and four other members of the MS-13 gang were charged with the murder of Osmin Campos-Sandoval. It is believed that in June 2016 the five gang members lured the victim to a wooded area. They then attacked the victim using machetes before shooting him fatally. The gang members then buried the victim’s body in a grave near a water tower.

Campos-Sandoval’s body was discovered on Oct. 6, 2020, the Daily Mail reported. His skeletal remains were found by New York State Police Department’s cadaver sniffer dog.

Police arrested Maldonado and his four accomplices Sandra Tobar Mejia, Christian Rodriguez, Gerson Stanley Juarez and Raul Ponce. All five accused have been charged with second-degree murder.

Maldonado faces two other murder charges aside from the second-degree murder charge that he pleaded guilty to.

Police discovered the body of 18-year-old Bryan Lemus on May 24, 2019, the Daily Star reported. The teenager is believed to have been lured to his death by Maldonado and other MS-13 gang members on Aug. 13, 2016. The teenager had been walking his dog when the gang members took him to an isolated location. The victim was fatally attacked using machetes before being buried in a grave.

The skeletal remains of another of Maldonado’s victims, Gerson Pineda, were discovered on July 20, 2020. The gang reportedly attacked him on Sept. 10, 2015, using machetes near Meadowbrook Parkway. After the fatal attack, the gang members buried the victim’s body.

While the three murder charges against Maldonado appear to be gang-related, the incident for which he is serving a sentence involved the death of a bystander.

MS-13 gang member Edar Ventura and Maldonado had attempted to shoot a rival gang member in December 2016. However, Moya ended up getting shot in the head leading to his death. For the death of the teenager, Maldonado pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.