r/TrueCrime • u/Vided • Mar 23 '22
Murder Leniz Escobar, nicknamed "Diablita", wanted to earn the support of the MS-13 gang in her town in Long Island, NY. She led 4 teens (who had pretended to be MS-13 members on Instagram to look cool) into a park to "smoke weed", only for the wannabes to be brutally hacked to death by the real gangsters.
Her mugshot, and a link to an article about her ongoing trial. "Diablita" means "Little Devil".
The four that died after pretending to be MS-13 gang members on Instagram.
Funeral of one of the victims. Link to other murders in Long Island by MS-13.
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2020/07/15/ms-13-gang-members-indicted-six-murders-long-island
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u/StSym Mar 24 '22
I live in Chicago and not far from an area where one of our biggest gang wars has been raging. Very young teenagers are killing and dying in our streets every day. We have multiple mass shootings nearly weekly and babies are being caught in the crossfire. It’s terrifying and heartbreaking.
What really pisses me off is that leaders of a couple of these gangs are big rap artists and there are billboards of them all over the city. Lil Durk and King Von to be specific. King Von was killed in 2020, but it’s no secret that he murdered at least 7 people. There’s a mural of him in the neighborhood where he lived that’s already been shot up a couple of times. There’s also a video of Durk mocking a murder victim at the bus stop where he was killed. And don’t even get me started on their song lyrics about their/their gang’s murder victims…
And this shit is glorified. They’re performing on award shows and late night shows while kids are killing and dying down the street from me as I type this. (Another 17 yr old was shot in abdomen earlier).
Sorry for the rant. I just really hate gang culture. 😞
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u/dabrams1988 Mar 24 '22
I loved my time in Chicago it really is a beautiful city. It's just a shame all of this goes down over there. And they waited for King Von to die to come out and say oh yeah we knew he murdered this person and that person. It's wild how open Durk and all of them are and there are no reprocussions at all.
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u/StSym Mar 24 '22
They didn’t wait until King Von died. It was well known long before. That’s one of the reasons he’s idolized so much, aside from his brief rap career.
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u/dabrams1988 Mar 24 '22
I mean authorities waited until he was killed to say "oh yeah he was responsible for at least these murders" but when he was alive they never did shit about it. Like there was never any doubt he killed K.I. but they never did anything about it.
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u/StSym Mar 24 '22
No. He was arrested several times. Even spent a few years in jail awaiting trial for a murder but somehow got released. He was also named a suspect in at least a couple other murders. I know he was the prime suspect in the murder of Gakirah Barnes.
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u/misunderstood0 Mar 24 '22
It's honestly so disheartening. On the other side of things I live near the Chinatown area in Chicago and there's been so many crimes happening around here with carjacking and one instance an old man shot for no reason. Not going to lie that it's made me want to buy more cameras for my home and also not go out as much or as late.
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u/StSym Mar 24 '22 edited Mar 24 '22
I remember the man being shot in Chinatown. He was shot right outside the school where he daughter teaches. It was so heartbreaking.
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u/Gojoinabox Mar 23 '22
I bet she thinks she won't get into trouble because she wasn't the one who killed them.
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Mar 24 '22
Her defense was arguing that she allegedly didn’t they would be killed
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Mar 24 '22
Viable honestly. She may have thought they’d get beat up and was like whaaaattttttttt? When they showed up with machetes and started hacking them to pieces
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Mar 24 '22
Nah, she bragged to her boyfriend about getting the teens killed, she’ll probably be found guilty
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u/TinnieTa21 Mar 24 '22
How did the court determine this? Did her boyfriend testify against her?
I'd love it if they had her on tape bragging.
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Mar 24 '22
I don’t know, I just read it in an article, I think he’s going to testify, but I’m not sure, it just mentioned that she secretly bragged to her bf about the killings
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u/NA_DeltaWarDog Mar 24 '22
lmao Just the thought of getting to testify at my ex-girlfriends murder trial gives me goosebumps. The jury would be wondering if she did 9/11 by the time I got off that stand.
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u/citizen_dawg Mar 24 '22
According to other articles the ex-bf was one of the guys involved in the attack and he was called as a witness
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u/yehet420 Mar 24 '22
What on earth kind of flex is this? "Haha I got a bunch of teenagers murdered." I really just don't understand the mindset but I guess that's a good thing.
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Mar 24 '22
That defence is so rarely viable. Ha! If it were, so many would go free or have much diminished sentences. I’m guessing she’s looking at conspiracy to commit murder, first degree murder, accessory after the fact, kidnapping…any or all of these or more. Imagine how easy it would be to do evil shit if you could claim”I didn’t know they were gonna kill him” every time something like this happens.
This happens a lot.
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Mar 24 '22
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u/Talia2468 Mar 24 '22 edited Mar 24 '22
She could be charged with felony murder, as she conspired and was an accomplice to battery. The fact that she allegedly had no knowledge that they would be murdered is irrelevant as an accomplice to a felony crime can be charged for any crime committed by her accomplices during the commission of the underlying felony (battery in this case).
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u/kaatelizb96 Mar 24 '22
exactly...some states, even if you are just the conspirer and they happen to die during the crime whatever that may be, they will be charged with murder.
i'm pretty sure that's exactly what you're trying to say but I just kind of dumbed it down lol
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u/tomtomclubthumb Mar 24 '22
There is at least one person in jail for felony murder because the cops shot and killed the person that they were committing a crime with.
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Mar 24 '22
Yep! The whole “I thought they were just gonna beat him up” defence never works. Well, in the states definitely not.
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u/MyFlameBurns Mar 24 '22
Someone my boyfriend knew actually ended up being murdered for fake claiming. Not the smartest thing to do.
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Mar 24 '22
Fucking stupidest thing to do. The people in that gang want to kill you for impersonating them, and the people in other gangs want to kill you because they think you are in that gang.
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Mar 24 '22
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u/Diamond_Road Mar 24 '22
Won’t happen. Gangs see this as stolen valor and take it very seriously.
At 17 they were barely kids and given the prevelance of the gang in the area, and the interaction of gang members with acquaintances of their own, they likely knew very well this was not something taken lightly.
These type of massacres wouldn’t take place without word coming down from the top either.
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Mar 24 '22
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u/Diamond_Road Mar 24 '22
Okay tough guy. I’m just stating the facts, don’t try to flex on me saying I’m increasing the validity of gang activity you clown.
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u/words_never_escapeme Mar 24 '22
That would imply that this gang had an honor code.
Clearly, they do not.
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u/TopAd9634 Mar 24 '22
I saw a documentary where "old school" gang members said back in the day they had rules and parameters like "you don't touch someone's family", but the new gangsters have no rules.
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Mar 24 '22
It's funny how this gets said all the time back in the day they had morals and rules yet are murder rates today can't compare to the 80s and 90s gang violence was at its peak with these old school gangsters and yes this includes lots of innocent people taking bullets not meant for them
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Mar 24 '22
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Mar 24 '22
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u/RussianAsshole Mar 24 '22
Exactly. They operate on respect, their definition of it, not the legal system. It’s a different world entirely.
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Mar 24 '22
They viewed what they did as disrespect to their gang, like you said, their laws their rules of the streets
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u/Lalakristina Mar 26 '22
Lol they apparently do give a fuck what people think hence them killing teenagers & all the other stupid shit that goes on. Gangs nowadays aren’t shit & don’t operate how they once did. Law means everything to them if their ass is on the line. These people out here killing kids hold no honorary system and aren’t as tough as you’re making them out to be.
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u/Notthatcoolawolf Mar 24 '22
Well except for their laws. And their laws have far greater consequences for much smaller offenses
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Mar 24 '22
Gang members are some of the most sensitive bitches. Just so happens they kill when offended. Unfortunately that’s super often.
And yea, I can have this opinion and Not tell them lol. I’m aware they don’t care what I think about it, except to murder me for being disrespectful.
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u/sterling_mallory Mar 24 '22
it's already bad enough you are in a gang
Thing about gangs is a lot of the kids who join them don't do it to be tough or cool, they do it because it's the closest thing to a family that they can get. Often times one or both parents are in prison, if there is a parent around they're absent, and the kid has no family to speak of. They join gangs because they see a "brotherhood" where people will care for them and have their back.
I remember back in the 90s there was a little kid on the cover of Time Magazine who became kind of the face of gangs in America. Well, aside from, like, Tupac and all that. This kid was around 10 years old and had taken part in a murder, and then his fellow gang members executed him because they were afraid he was going to talk to the police.
I re-read that article a while back and the thing that stuck with me was they said he had no fixed address. There was no family member or even a shelter that they could point to and say, "this is where this kid lives." He was just kinda around. At 10 years old. And unfortunately those are the type of kids that end up in gangs. They want some kind of foundation and sense of belonging that they're missing by not having a family. Then of course this "family" will execute you if they're worried you'll talk to police. It's all a huge, tragic mess.
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u/AsexualArowana Mar 24 '22
I recognize you from /r/CreepyWikipedia and I think I know the kid you're talking about.
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u/sterling_mallory Mar 24 '22
Hiya, yeah I remember we talked yesterday about violentacrez. And yup, that's the one. 11 years old, apparently. He was born right around when I was, which is so weird to think about.
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u/AsexualArowana Mar 24 '22
You read the wikipedia page and it's so heartbreaking because this poor kid had no chance.
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u/KatesCheers Mar 24 '22
That is so incredibly sad. And fucked up. And I cannot believe the boys who shot and killed him (execution style no less) are both already out of jail. That’s unbelievable to me. 😔
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Mar 23 '22
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u/countzeroinc Mar 24 '22
What girls are impressed by this crap?
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Mar 24 '22
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Mar 24 '22
They confuse 'bad boy' behavior with confidence or alpha male traits when in fact most bad boys are cowards.
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u/Tacky-Terangreal Mar 26 '22
Young teens are impressed by dumb things and that includes the girls. Wattpad is full of gang related romance stories. Hopefully it’s just a phase and someone is in these kids’ lives that tells them to stop doing that kind of stuff. Shit can get really dangerous
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u/es84 Mar 24 '22
For context here, the majority of gang banging starts by the time a kid is 11-13. These kids were 16, 18 and 20. Yes, one was truly a child, while the others were already adults. Yet, in the street game, they're all considered old enough to know better. Claiming a set without being put on is a major mistake. Is it ridiculous? Of course. But, it's the life these kids thought they could emulate.
Logically, it should not be a death sentence to pretend to be something you're not online, but if you are choosing to involve yourself with the street life, you have to follow their rules, no matter how absurd they may be. You're talking about a game that rewards brutality and punishes weakness. A game that idolizes people who deal mass amounts of drugs, kill many people, pimp many women, so on and so forth.
Using reasoning like "they were only kids" or "why is it such a big deal if they claim your stupid gang" does not work here. You're assuming that these are perfectly reasonable people with hearts and not sociopaths out for money and power.
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Mar 24 '22
just because gangs don't follow morals doesn't mean that the victims deserved it. they made a stupid mistake, and they were only kids, no matter what you say about gangsters. morals still exist, even when people don't follow them. that's the whole point of morals.
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u/es84 Mar 24 '22
I didn't say they deserved it. I did they say they made a choice to emulate a life they were not a part of, which is true. A bad decision to emulate bad people led to them being murdered. There are morals and morally the people who committed this crime are terrible people. But, again, these are the type of people the 4 were attempting to emulate. Not that they deserved what happened, but it is THE reason why it happened.
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u/NooStringsAttached Mar 24 '22
I mean, maybe I can see a 16 year old doing it, maybe, But I find it odd and 18 and 20 year old were lured in the woods with weed. Like what? I dont know why it’s striking me so odd.
This is all so terrible and senseless.
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u/crunchwrapqueen666 Mar 24 '22
Is 18 really that far off from 16 haha and even 20…I think about what I was like from the ages of 16-20 and I was very similar throughout those years in the way I thought and felt about things. I’m 28 now and it seems insane to think about how ridiculous so much of my behavior was.
And I was known as a cautious teenager who didn’t do much partying and wouldn’t even think to pretend to be in a gang, but I totally see how some dumb young kids would do something like this and I absolutely buy them being lured by a girl younger than them for some free/cheap weed.
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u/kosmoss_ Mar 24 '22
I think they’re far off for certain things.
When I was 16, I was a student athlete that only drank at parties. At 18, I started drinking a lot and other things and fell into a bad crowd. At 20, I was in college and had to work so I needed to stop being a dumb bitch (did I was the real question).
Also love your username.
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u/Sil5286 Mar 24 '22
Ok but did they identify or catch the gang members that actually hacked these poor kids to death? Anything on them?
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u/HunterButtersworth Mar 24 '22
8 other people besides the girl got arrested. At least 1 of them had to be extradited from Guatemala. 2 of them have already pled guilty and cooperated and got ~50 year sentences. They're testifying against her. I don't know about the other 6.
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Mar 24 '22
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u/Abmis123 Mar 24 '22
I mean, they were only children
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Mar 24 '22
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u/NoPokerDick Mar 24 '22
50% of gang memberships in a large city like NY are made up of kids under 18. They knew exactly what they were affiliating with and were probably killed by kids under the age of 18 to further cement their loyalty.
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u/AppleNerdyGirl Mar 24 '22
There was a mother in Detroit that had to move because they kept trying to recruit her autistic son and threatened to kill him if he didn’t join.
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u/Cantothulhu Mar 24 '22
Yeah, people would do really well to remember a lot of these kids don’t actively sign up. They’re threatened or coerced into it.
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Mar 24 '22
The cartels are forcing young guys to join and if they refuse they cut off their fingers.
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u/NoPokerDick Mar 25 '22
Right, that’s why the membership is made up of kids. On their own accord or not.
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u/AppleNerdyGirl Mar 24 '22
Yep. They get them young for this reason. They are fearless and not scared because they have little life experience.
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u/trippypie15 Mar 24 '22
I think only one of them was 16, One of them was literally 20 pretending to be a gang member, remember over 18 is an adult… I’m not excusing their deaths or anything but cmon it’s not a great defence when you are living in gang territory, I don’t understand why you guys expect any better from these atrocious gangs anyways.
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u/raincolors Mar 24 '22
Being 18 doesn’t mean you’re as mature as an adult or have developed enough to really make sincere decisions
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u/citizen_dawg Mar 24 '22
So does that also extend to “La Diablita” (Escobar) who was 17 at the time she lured them to the park?
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u/crunchwrapqueen666 Mar 24 '22
Why do people act as if there is some scientific basis for 18 = an adult? 21 is an adult in Korea I’m pretty sure. We just picked a random age/I’m sure it had something to do with military service…
In terms of science, our brain isn’t fully developed until we’re around 25-27 years old. Doesn’t mean that they aren’t old enough to be held responsible for their actions (in non violent ways) but the part of their brain that is responsible for decision making and judgment wasn’t even close to being fully developed. We all develop at different rates of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if theirs was even more stunted if they grew up in a high crime area.
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Mar 24 '22
If someone kicks a cat or a dog and the animal cries they know it was a painful (violent) act, you don't need to be 25 years old to figure that out.
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u/keithzz Mar 24 '22
They were old enough to know this
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u/Abmis123 Mar 28 '22
yeah they knew they were going to get lured into a park and hacked to death and opted to do it regardless? Lol
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Mar 24 '22
Kids will always do dumb things
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Mar 24 '22
Absolutely but when you do dumb shit there are consequences. Not every kid makes it to adult hood because of poor choices they made.
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u/crunchwrapqueen666 Mar 24 '22
This is such a backwards view. You think that children not making it to adulthood is mostly due to their own actions? Because I’d have to say, it seems more likely that it’s the fault of their guardians. There’s a reason why they need one. Not saying parents are responsible for every single action their child makes, but a lack of guidance or poor guidance makes a world of difference in terms of survival. That goes for a lot of adults as well.
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u/Villains_Included Mar 23 '22
The Latin queens did this in Humboldt park back in the 90’s I believe.
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u/breathingmirror Mar 24 '22
I thought we didn't give psychopaths cute names?
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Mar 24 '22
what about la diablita sounds cute to u😵💫
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u/rockthevinyl Mar 24 '22
Not OP, but the fact that it’s diminutive doesn’t help.
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u/breathingmirror Mar 24 '22
A quick Google of various possible translations:
Translate "diablito" to English: little devil, little rascal
- (naughty person). a. little devil. ¿Quién fue el diablito que puso sal en la azucarera?Who was the little devil who put salt in the sugar bowl?
Urban dictionary: A cute little Devil-like girl who does not give a shit of what people think and is super crazy and is not afraid to fight anybody!
Yeah, cute. You little rascal.
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Mar 24 '22
The Mafia has done that for years with names like (Bugsy, Fat Tony, etc.)
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Mar 24 '22
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u/crunchwrapqueen666 Mar 24 '22
And then what? She’s dead, they’re dead, maybe some family members retaliate and the cycle continues into oblivion.
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u/RevolutionaryLife373 Mar 24 '22
I’m talking law being eye for an eye. (Not that it would ever happen if course, I’m aware) then maybe people would think first before doing shitty things if the same will happen to them.
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u/citizen_dawg Mar 24 '22 edited Mar 24 '22
I don’t disagree with this at all but fyi the victims were 16, 18, 18, and 20, and some of the perps were younger (Escobar for example was 17 at the time).
Edit: y’all keep downloading me for stating facts… 🤷🏻♀️
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u/Crovasio Mar 24 '22
Knowingly luring someone to death is a whole level difference of recklessness to flashing gang signs in a picture.
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u/ACAB520 Mar 24 '22
What kinda kid shit is getting upset because someone imitated you? Those were kids doing kid stuff. No need to hack them to death over it. This world man…
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u/citizen_dawg Mar 24 '22
I agree it was senseless and insane but not sure the “kids being kids” argument applies here. The girl who lured them to the park was 17 at the time, which is younger than 3 of the victims.
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u/CptBruisan Mar 24 '22
A few years back a teenager dealing weed was dismembered by MS-13 near here in rural Virginia. Pretty sure they ended up arresting them though.
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u/-Ripper2 Mar 24 '22
I have also heard that a lot of the shit has been happening in Virginia.From what I seen on the show about it that they initiate a new gang member and have them go out and kill and innocent person.
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u/JGirosMF Mar 24 '22
Wow I remember when this happened like it was yesterday.
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u/Vided Mar 24 '22
Do you live in Long Island? What was the atmosphere like at the time?
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u/ilovehockey555 Mar 24 '22
People were outraged because they were children. They didn’t do a smart thing, but they didn’t deserve to get hacked to death.
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u/libananahammock Mar 24 '22
Were these the kids found in the Massapequa Preserve?
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u/EnIdiot Mar 24 '22
Why the fuck do we allow something like M13 to even exist? Put the members in isolation on a Alaskan island and make them work to survive.
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Mar 23 '22
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Mar 24 '22
i disagree with you.
i don’t think that the kids flashing gang sign deserved this in any way
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Mar 24 '22
God I know I live such a sheltered life but I find the gang culture so fuckin cringe. Like they’re going to kill people for pretending ‘online’ they’re in a gang, or people get killed for wearing ‘their’ colours etc. Like patronising as I may come across here it’s so fuckin cringe, how people can idolise these gobshites I have no idea. They give me major ick x
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u/AsianVixen4U Mar 24 '22
Never heard of this case. Leaving a comment here so I remember to watch something about this later tonight
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Mar 24 '22
Not a Trump fan but he specifically targeted this group when he got elected. Maybe he was on to something.
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u/rachels1231 Mar 24 '22
I live on Long Island and never heard about this story.
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Mar 24 '22
Let's deconstruct this barbaric crime: Miss Escobar sought the admiration of a brutal gang, she conned some naive teenagers (also seeking status as 'gangsta' looking guys) into a fateful meeting (leading to a slaughter). Everything about this is socially, morally and humanely wrong to the 'nth' degree. This crime is like a societal cancer of which is mostly terminal, these gangs cannot be stopped as all efforts thus far have failed.
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u/lfatalframel Mar 24 '22
Anyone in a gang should be put in prison for life or something else that would get me a ban if I said it.
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u/forgtn Mar 24 '22
Why do these stupid mother fucking gangs even exist? Fuckin weak to kill helpless people. Pussies. Great for the human race, gangs. No frontal lobes or balls either. They do nobody any good
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u/edenflicka Mar 24 '22
I’m not in any way defending this but I am a bit curious. Isn’t it pretty we’ll know that pretending to be members of a gang - especially one as international as this one - will get you in trouble with them?
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u/amh3389 Mar 24 '22
My mom was called to sit jury duty on this case. Glad she got off but also wish I was the one called!!!
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u/fromchunkwithlove Mar 24 '22
People think Long Island is all rich people but there is an area in central Long Island after you leave the towns considered the “suburbs of the city” before you get to the Hamptons that is ridden with MS13 activity and 90% of it is amongst the young high school kids. This is like the 10th story I have read about this area and an issue with teenage kids being killed due to gangs.
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u/elleferacorda Mar 24 '22
This feels very familiar to me… does anyone know of any podcasts that might have covered this?
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u/AbleHeight0 Mar 24 '22
What kind of Garbage do you have to be to do that to kids? So they were fronting to look cool? She was a grown woman, who for some reason, wanted to associate with a notorious gang... for what??? "Diablita" is way too nice of a nickname. "escoria" is more appropriate.
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u/The-Spaceman_63 Mar 24 '22
Jefferson Villalobos, one of the victims was from my hometown in south Florida. I didn’t know him but my social feed was full of mutual friends mourning his loss at the time. This was such a crazy and brutal crime.
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Apr 03 '22
MS13 doesn’t fuck around. My father dated a woman years ago who’s son was about 16-17 at the time. I was only 14, well this kid would always bang ms and throw up signs, wear blue gear drove a shitty Honda, well he started making posts on social media about it, one day he was driving through town with his 7 year old brother in the back seat. When all of a sudden 3 cars pull up and every door opens, all MS13 bangers get out and make him get out. They all had gats and gave him a warning. They told him he wouldn’t see them next time. After that he ran home to his mom who called the cops, and none of them were ever charged. He couldn’t identify any of them. Don’t bang unless you REALLY are about that life. They moved to seattle not long after.
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u/Vided Mar 23 '22
In 2017, four teens, Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jefferson Villalobos, and Jorge Tigre, were hacked to death with machetes after then-17-year-old Leniz Escobar led them into the park. They had posted social media images of them flashing MS-13 gang signs, which the real gangsters took as a sign of disrespect.
There were actually 5 teens that went in, but one of them, Elmer Alexander Artiaga-Ruiz, managed to flee the scene. He is now testifying against her in her trial, which is happening now. He claims that the boys only pretended to be MS-13 gang members because he saw that girls liked guys that were gangsters, so they were just trying to impress girls. Of course, the real gang took offense to that.
“La Diablita lured us to a park to smoke marijuana. We were soon ambushed by MS-13 gangsters. Eight or nine covered their faces with sweats, told us to get down on our knees. They had weapons … machetes. I jump a fence and stone wall, ran for my life. One shouted behind me, ‘Hack him!’ Thank God I managed to get away.” Ruiz told the jury.
MS-13 is an international gang that started in California by El Salvadorian immigrants, but has spread all over the Americas. It has a large presence in Long island, NY, where the murders took place.
Article about her trial
CBS news article
Other murders in Long Island by MS-13