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On Thursday, Sept. 12, the United States Attorney’s office in Brooklyn charged Melvi Amador-Rios, 28, aka “Letal” and “Pinky”; Josue Leiva, 22, aka “Colocho”; and Luis Rivas, 24, aka “Inquieto,” both of Jamacia, Queens, with the May 2017 stabbing death of Julio Vasquez in Alley Pond Park.
The new charges include racketeering, murder, robbery, and firearms charges.
According to court filings, in early 2017, Amador-Rios, of Briarwood, the leader of the CLS clique, authorized the murder of a low-level MS-13 member, who was suspected of associating with a rival gang.
Amador-Rios suspected that another low-level member had warned the other that the clique intended to kill him. Amador-Rios then ordered the murder of targeted member as well as Vasquez, because he was also suspected of cooperating with law enforcement, and had failed to kill another gang member, the indictment said.
On May 16, 2017, Vasquez was lured to a wooded area of Alley Pond Park where Leiva and Rivas stabbed him multiple times, killing him, the indictment said.
Vasquez’s body was discovered on May 21, 2017, by a 52-year-old bird watcher.
“The superseding indictment alleges multiple murder conspiracies, including a kill-or-be-killed plot culminating in the brutal murder of a teen victim who was stabbed to death for not carrying out a lethal order himself,” stated United States Attorney Donoghue.
In addition to the murder charges, the Amador-Rios and Rivas were also hit with robbery and firearms charges, the indictment said.
On January 8, 2017, they allegedly robbed a money transfer business in Jamaica at gunpoint and pistol-whipped an employee.
Since 2010, MS-13 members have been charged with more than 45 members in the district.
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