MS-13 member pleads guilty to Far Rockaway and Lawrence murders

Yonathan Sanchez shot Ian Cruz and Harold Sermeno

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A member of the street gang MS-13, Yonathan Sanchez, 23, a/k/a Turbo, pleaded guilty before Judge Tammy Robbins on March 13 to two counts of murder second-degree for a pair of December 2018 murders. Sanchez is expected to be sentenced to 34 years to life in prison on April 21.

He is one of a half dozen MS-13 members alleged to be involved in the Dec. 15 murders of Far Rockaway resident Ian Cruz, 23, who was perceived to be an enemy of MS-13, and Harold B. Sermeno, 17, also of Far Rockaway, two days later, behind the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence.

The case against co-defendants, Carlos Guerra, 19, and Elmer Gutierrez, also 19, a/k/a Revolver, of Valley Stream, are pending. The cases against two juveniles, a boy who was 15 when the crime was committed and girl, who was 13 at the time of the murders, l are also pending.

They were charged with murder second-degree for the Lawrence incident. Another 15-year-old boy pleaded guilty to one count of murder second degree and is expected to be sentenced to 8-1/2 years to life in prison.

“This MS-13 member executed two young men at close range because they were perceived enemies of the gang,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a news release. “Aggressive enforcement and strong law enforcement collaboration has decimated this gang, and we continue this work until MS-13 is eliminated.” 

Cruz was lured to Bayswater Point State Park, also in Far Rockaway, with the promise of drugs and sex. Cruz met the girl and then walked to the park, while Sanchez, allegedly Guerra and the boy hid in the park armed with knives. Sanchez emerged from the bushes and shot Cruz four times in the head with a .22 caliber revolver.

Before the murder, the gang members planned Cruz’s murder and photographs of Cruz allegedly disrespecting MS-13 were circulated among them, the DA’s office said. He was found by a park-goer the following day, in his underwear and on top of a blanket. The gang members took Cruz’s belongings and fled to a Nameoke Street apartment in Far Rockaway, where Sanchez and Guerra lived.

Sermeno was also enticed to go to Community Center. He and the girl were at a park area on the Lawrence Avenue property and began to drink and smoke at a picnic table, according to the DA.

The five other gang members, armed with a gun and knives, waited in strategic areas in the park. Sanchez then emerged and shot Sermeno four times in the head and once in the chest, also with a .22 revolver. Gutierrez allegedly sliced the victim’s neck with a machete. Then they returned to the same Far Rockaway apartment. A person walking a dog found Sermeno the following morning.

At the time of his death, Sermeno was a Lawrence High School student, who was suspended from school. He was being home-schooled at the center.

The police recovered the machete that was allegedly used in the murder of Sermeno and a .22 caliber revolver that was allegedly used in both murders at the Nameoke apartment.

Members of the NYPD arrested Sanchez, Guerra, Gutierrez and two of the three juveniles on Dec. 20, 2018 in Far Rockaway. Members of the NYPD and NCPD arrested the third juvenile on Dec. 28, 2018.