MS-13 Member Gets 50-Year Sentence for Multiple ‘Horrific’ Machete Murders
An MS-13 gang member nicknamed Diablita meaning “Little Devil” has been sentenced to 50 years in prison on October 1 for aiding in the planning and the execution of the murders of three men and a teenage boy in 2017, according to Law&Crime.
A member of the international gang also known as La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Leniz Escobar, 24, was given her 600-month sentence for her role in the murders of Justin Llivicura, 16, Michael Lopez, 20, Jorge Tigre, 18, and Jefferson Villalobos, 18, who were killed by MS-13 members using machetes and other sharp objects after Escobar reportedly lured them to a local park in Central Islip.
Escobar was convicted guilty of racketeering, including predicate acts of murder, conspiracy to murder rival gang members and obstruction of justice, and murder in aid of racketeering in April 2022.
The MS-13 member reportedly worked with a co-conspirator, Keyli Gomez, to convince the men to come to the park, where they believed they were going to smoke marijuana but were attacked by other MS-13 members including Josue Portillo, Freiry Martinez, Alexis Hernandez, Edwin Rodriguez, Sergio Segovia-Pineda, Omar Antonio Villalta, Henry Salmeron, Anderson Sanchez and others.
A fifth individual, 22, was also lured to the park but managed to escape, survive, and testify in court against Escobar.
People carry the casket of Justin Llivicura, one of four men murdered by MS-13 members in April 2017 during his funeral on April 19, 2017, in East Patchogue, N.Y. A member of MS-13 who was involved in orchestrating his murder was sentenced to 50 years in prison earlier this week.
Frank Eltman/Associated Press
Newsweek reached out to the FBI‘s New York Field Office for comment via email.
The MS-13 members behind the attack reportedly believed that the victims were part of a rival gang and attacked them with weapons including machetes, knives, an axe, and wooden clubs in what court documents describe as a “horrific frenzy of violence.”
The gang members then reportedly moved the bodies to a secluded location in the woods, where they were found the next night. Escobar disposed of her clothing and cell phone that she had on the night of the murders.
In a statement in the United States Attorney’s Office press release, United States Attorney Breon Peace said, “The defendant demonstrated her allegiance to the MS-13 gang by luring four young men to their slaughter. Today’s significant sentence reflects not only the seriousness of her conduct but also the consequences of her actions including the terror and suffering experienced by the victims, and the life-altering grief that their families continue to suffer.”
He continued, “It is my hope that the justice meted out today will provide some comfort to those who lost loved ones to this senseless gang violence.”
Escobar, an associate of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas (Leeward) and Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas (Brentwood), was the fifth person to be sentenced for the 2017 murders amongst the dozens charged, was the third to receive a sentence of 50 years or more.
Escobar and Gomez were a teenager at the time of the attack while Escobar was dating Jeffrey Amador, a high-ranking member of MS-13, but she was tried as an adult.
The use of machetes in murders by the MS-13 is by no means new, as gang member Walter Antonio Argueta Amaya was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2018 for the murder of a man using a machete.
Similarly, four MS-13 members reportedly murdered one of their own in 2018 using a machete for cooperating with police.
Escobar’s sentencing followed the sentencing of 18 other MS-13 members this summer, who were sentenced to more than 425 years in prison for crimes including murder, racketeering and drug trafficking.
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