2 MS-13 gang members from Uniondale and Hempstead indicted in killings of rivals, 1 at a McDonald's
Police investigate the killing of a 19-year-old in the parking lot of a Hempstead McDonald’s on Sept. 14, 2022. Credit: Jim Staubitser
Two MS-13 gang members from Uniondale and Hempstead were indicted in a teen’s killing behind a Hempstead McDonald’s and another man's slaying in a Uniondale park, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Carlos Humberto Aquino-Hernandez, 22, of Uniondale and Baltimore, and Gerson Hernandez, 22, of Hempstead, were named in an 11-count indictment charged with racketeering related to two murders last year against suspected rival gang members of MS-13.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court in Central Islip and was ordered held without bond while awaiting trial. Aquino-Hernandez was being held in Maryland on a separate MS-13 home invasion robbery. A federal judge ordered last week that he be returned to Long Island for his arraignment on the New York charges.
Hernandez was already charged in the July 19 shooting and stabbing of Walter Ochoa Jr. of Uniondale and the Sept. 14 killing of Hector Manuel Valencia Gomez, 19, of Hempstead at a Hempstead McDonald’s on Peninsula Boulevard.
He was arrested in March in Maryland on a Nassau County warrant and initially charged in Nassau County Court. Nassau County district attorney officials said the case was still open.
Nassau County police also announced the arrest last month of an 18-year-old unnamed third suspect who was a minor when the McDonald’s shooting occurred.
“The defendants allegedly committed two murders in furtherance of the MS-13 enterprise with all the gang’s hallmarks of senseless, brutal violence that endangers the entire community as evinced by unleashing gunfire outside a McDonald’s in broad daylight near a mother walking with her child,” United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement.
Federal prosecutors said MS-13 gang members targeted Ochoa. as a suspected rival gang member in retaliation for killing another MS-13 member 11 days earlier. Prosecutors said Ochoa was sitting on a bench with another person at Uniondale Avenue Park when they were surrounded by three MS-13 members who shot him with a .45 handgun and stabbed him in the neck and stomach with a knife.
Nearly two months later, on Sept. 14, 2022, prosecutors said the victim, Gomez, was a suspected rival gang member and was chasing Hernandez through the McDonald's parking lot. Surveillance footage shows the MS-13 members hiding behind a dumpster when Hernandez signaled Aquino-Hernandez to fire, striking Gomez as he was running between cars in the drive-thru line. A mother and her daughter were seen running away from the gunfire.
Prosecutors said Gomez stumbled forward and collapsed where Aquino-Hernandez fired several shots at his body as he lay in the parking lot and stabbed him in the arm with a knife.
Officials said the two men fled to Maryland after the killings before they were arrested earlier this year.
Both men also are charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy and related charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other weapons charges.
They were also charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana on Long Island to help finance the MS-13’s criminal operations, prosecutors said, including buying firearms, ammunition and other weapons, and sending money to MS-13 leaders in Central America.
If convicted, both men could face life in prison or the death penalty.
Two MS-13 gang members from Uniondale and Hempstead were indicted in a teen’s killing behind a Hempstead McDonald’s and another man's slaying in a Uniondale park, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Carlos Humberto Aquino-Hernandez, 22, of Uniondale and Baltimore, and Gerson Hernandez, 22, of Hempstead, were named in an 11-count indictment charged with racketeering related to two murders last year against suspected rival gang members of MS-13.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty Wednesday in federal court in Central Islip and was ordered held without bond while awaiting trial. Aquino-Hernandez was being held in Maryland on a separate MS-13 home invasion robbery. A federal judge ordered last week that he be returned to Long Island for his arraignment on the New York charges.
Hernandez was already charged in the July 19 shooting and stabbing of Walter Ochoa Jr. of Uniondale and the Sept. 14 killing of Hector Manuel Valencia Gomez, 19, of Hempstead at a Hempstead McDonald’s on Peninsula Boulevard.
He was arrested in March in Maryland on a Nassau County warrant and initially charged in Nassau County Court. Nassau County district attorney officials said the case was still open.
Nassau County police also announced the arrest last month of an 18-year-old unnamed third suspect who was a minor when the McDonald’s shooting occurred.
“The defendants allegedly committed two murders in furtherance of the MS-13 enterprise with all the gang’s hallmarks of senseless, brutal violence that endangers the entire community as evinced by unleashing gunfire outside a McDonald’s in broad daylight near a mother walking with her child,” United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a statement.
Federal prosecutors said MS-13 gang members targeted Ochoa. as a suspected rival gang member in retaliation for killing another MS-13 member 11 days earlier. Prosecutors said Ochoa was sitting on a bench with another person at Uniondale Avenue Park when they were surrounded by three MS-13 members who shot him with a .45 handgun and stabbed him in the neck and stomach with a knife.
Nearly two months later, on Sept. 14, 2022, prosecutors said the victim, Gomez, was a suspected rival gang member and was chasing Hernandez through the McDonald's parking lot. Surveillance footage shows the MS-13 members hiding behind a dumpster when Hernandez signaled Aquino-Hernandez to fire, striking Gomez as he was running between cars in the drive-thru line. A mother and her daughter were seen running away from the gunfire.
Prosecutors said Gomez stumbled forward and collapsed where Aquino-Hernandez fired several shots at his body as he lay in the parking lot and stabbed him in the arm with a knife.
Officials said the two men fled to Maryland after the killings before they were arrested earlier this year.
Both men also are charged with narcotics trafficking conspiracy and related charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and other weapons charges.
They were also charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana on Long Island to help finance the MS-13’s criminal operations, prosecutors said, including buying firearms, ammunition and other weapons, and sending money to MS-13 leaders in Central America.
If convicted, both men could face life in prison or the death penalty.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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