Alleged MS-13 member connected to two murders

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A Uniondale man faces murder and gang assault charges over a pair of killings last year in the communities.

Gerson Hernandez, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to second-degree murder and second-degree gang assault. If convicted, he could face 40 years to life in prison.

Nassau County Attorney Anne Donnelly accuses Hernandez of walking into a Uniondale park with two other men on July 19, 2022, and cornered Walter Ochoa.

One of the other men — who has yet to be apprehended by police — allegedly shot Ochoa in the chest, while Hernandez and the third man slashed him in his neck, and stabbed him in the abdomen. Ochoa died at the scene.

Then, two months later, Hernandez and another man was reportedly arguing with two other people outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Hempstead village when a friend of his allegedly rode by on a bicycle. The friend, according to prosecutors, pulled out a gun and shot one of the men multiple times.

While he laid on the ground dying on the curb, Hernandez’s companion allegedly took out a large knife and struck him. The victim, who later died, was not identified.
Prosecutors have accused Hernandez and his accomplices of being members of the MS-13 gang.

“In less than two months, Gerson Hernandez allegedly participated in the killings of two men in Uniondale and Hempstead, who were surrounded and slashed with knives after they had been shot,” Donnelly said, in a release. “MS-13 has wreaked havoc across Long Island and taken too many lives. We will continue to dismantle this criminal operation one member at a time, and ensure our communities are safe from the gang’s unspeakable violence.”

Hernandez is due back in court June 6.