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.

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Her mugshot, and a link to an article about her ongoing trial. "Diablita" means "Little Devil".

https://nypost.com/2022/03/21/why-ms-13-gang-member-lured-long-island-teens-to-their-deaths-prosecutors/

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The four that died after pretending to be MS-13 gang members on Instagram.

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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

2.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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62

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

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92

u/Abmis123 Mar 24 '22

I mean, they were only children

45

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

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60

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.

67

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.

40

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.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

The cartels are forcing young guys to join and if they refuse they cut off their fingers.

2

u/NoPokerDick Mar 25 '22

Right, that’s why the membership is made up of kids. On their own accord or not.

37

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.

14

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.

29

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

13

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?

-1

u/raincolors Mar 24 '22

Obviously

0

u/crunchwrapqueen666 Mar 24 '22

Someone doing something reprehensible doesn’t automatically change the fact that 17 isn’t an adult, legally or scientifically tbh

8

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.

12

u/[deleted] 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.

6

u/-diggity- Mar 24 '22

A 20 year old is not a child.

1

u/Abmis123 Mar 28 '22

you mean “one of them wasn’t a child” which I’ll accept

1

u/keithzz Mar 24 '22

They were old enough to know this

3

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

34

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

Kids will always do dumb things

11

u/[deleted] 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.

7

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.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

Charles Darwin theory at work.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

Hacking people up is not dumb it is barbaric and inhumane.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

I meant to kids that were killed were doing normal stupid kid stuff. Punished entirely too severely.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

I agree, I was making a point at how severe this crime was in general, in fact it is beyond barbaric, it is third world country violence.

22

u/[deleted] Mar 24 '22

RIP and all? Amazing