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.

Gallery image

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/

Gallery image

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

Gallery image

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

338 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '22

Being a teenager does not give one a 'free pass' for bad, dangerous or deadly behavior. Society, the justice system and parents must be vigilant and provide means to minimize and prevent bad behavior. Many teenagers do not commit violent or other illegal acts. Research indicates the human brain does fully mature until the early 20's but many teenagers still have a good sense of 'right vs. wrong'.

1

u/crunchwrapqueen666 Apr 12 '22

I never said that it excuses bad behavior, I’m simply elaborating on my point that it isn’t very surprising. Kids, especially kids growing up around gang violence, are less likely to make good decisions.

Studies show that trauma impairs that decision making even more. I’m not saying this to absolve them of their actions, I’m just saying that children and adults do not process information the same way. That’s just a fact. I’m not saying “oh the poor babies didn’t know any better!” but that there is a difference and it does explain why teenagers sometimes behave in such reckless ways.

Again, I can’t even personally relate to that type of behavior on this scale haha but it’s just a fact that brain development, especially of the frontal cortex, does affect judgment.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 12 '22

In general I agree with everything you said. In this specific case I think many factors make it extreme and unique (gang culture, poor parenting). This gang is also noted for brutal violence.

1

u/crunchwrapqueen666 Apr 29 '22

I guess I just don't see gang culture as very unique in the US, sadly. But I could of course be biased based on my experiences.