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Oscar Flores-Mejia, 21, of Elmhurst, Queens was charged on Thursday, March 25, with murder in-aid-of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in-aid-of racketeering in connection with the April 23, 2018 murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta in Queens, said Mark J. Lesko, acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
According to court filings, on the evening of Monday, April 23, 2018, Peralta was lured to Kissena Park where he was ambushed in a wooded area by Flores-Mejia and two others.
Peralta was believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang. Peralta had a tattoo of a crown on his chest which the defendant mistakenly believed to be a symbol of a rival gang. Peralta was repeatedly slashed, stabbed, beaten, and strangled, court filings said.
A photograph taken of Peralta’s body depicts Flores-Mejia leaning over the victim and displaying an MS-13 hand sign.
“After allegedly helping to torture and murder the teenage victim, the defendant leaned over his lifeless body and displayed the MS-13 hand sign, openly revealing his presence at the scene and linking MS-13 to this horrific crime,” Lesko said.
Flores-Mejia, who has been detained since February, faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.
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