Alleged MS-13 gang members from Long Island charged in 2022 killing, court papers show

Federal authorities arrested three alleged MS-13 gang members Thursday in connection with the shooting and stabbing death of a suspected rival gang member at a Uniondale park in July 2022, court records show.

William Lainez-Duran, 24, of Uniondale, Elvin Eulises Vasquez-Lopez, 23, of Hempstead, and Jose Omar Yanes-Romero, 24, formerly of Hempstead, were among seven alleged members of the violent street gang charged in a 17-count superseding indictment alleging multiple racketeering offenses, including two murders, an attempted murder, murder conspiracies, a narcotics trafficking conspiracy and related firearms offenses, court records show. Four other men charged in the indictment were already in federal custody, prosecutors said.

“The racketeering offenses alleged in the superseding indictment, including murder, murder conspiracies, drug trafficking, and a brazen shooting outside Hempstead High School at dismissal time demonstrate the MS-13 gang members’ brutality and utter disregard for human life,” United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement.

Lainez-Duran and Vasquez-Lopez were brought into custody in Hempstead, officials said. Yanes-Romero was arrested in Culpeper, Virginia, where he lives. All three were scheduled to appear for arraignment Thursday.

Prosecutors said the three men conspired with Henry Aquino-Hernandez, 20, formerly of Uniondale, Henry Canales, 24, formerly of Hempstead, and others to kill rival gang members as retaliation for the July 8, 2022 killing of an alleged fellow MS-13 member. Eleven days later, on July 19, 2022, Lainez-Duran is accused of driving Yanes-Romero and Gerson Hernandez, 23, formerly of Hempstead, to Uniondale Avenue Park, where they allegedly shot and stabbed 21-year-old Walter Ochoa Jr., 21, of Uniondale, who they suspected of being a member of the rival 18th Street Gang. Canales then helped the men flee the scene, court records show.

Hernandez, who was initially indicted in October 2023, has also been accused of a September 2022 killing outside of a McDonald’s in Hempstead. 

The new indictment also accuses Jairo Cornejo-Crespin, 24, formerly of Freeport, of attempted murder for shooting an 18-year-old male outside Hempstead High School five times in December 2023.

Aquino-Hernandez, Canales, Lainez-Duran, Vasquez-Lopez and Yanes-Romero are also charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana across Long Island, prosecutors said.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement that the men charged have “been involved in multiple violent crimes in Hempstead and ruthless gang violence that has cost so many individuals their lives.”

Hernandez's attorney, James Branden, of Staten Island, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Attorney information for the six new defendants in the superseding indictment was not immediately available.

Hernandez, Aquino-Hernandez, Lainez-Duran and Yanes-Romero are all facing up to life in prison or the death penalty if convicted on the charges. Cornejo-Crespin faces up to life in prison, Canales could serve a maximum of 55 years in prison, and Vasquez-Lopez could be sentenced to 50 years in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.