Nassau DA: Gerson Hernandez, 21, of Uniondale, arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree gang assault in 2 killings

An alleged MS-13 gang member was arraigned Friday in connection with a pair of murders of rival gang members last year, including a teenager shot in broad daylight outside a Hempstead McDonald's and another man shot and stabbed inside a Uniondale park, Nassau prosecutors said.

Gerson Hernandez, 21, of Uniondale, was remanded by Nassau County Court Judge Terence Murphy on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree gang assault.  At his arraigment, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the charges.

If convicted, he faces up to 40 years to life in prison. 

Nassau police said Hernandez is a member of MS-13's Fulton clique and the slayings were retaliation for an earlier incident involving the rival 18th Street gang.

“In less than two months, Gerson Hernandez allegedly participated in the killings of two men in Uniondale and Hempstead, who were surrounded and slashed with knives after they had been shot,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “MS-13 has wreaked havoc across Long Island and taken too many lives. We will continue to dismantle this criminal operation one member at a time and ensure our communities are safe from the gang’s unspeakable violence.”

Stuart Austin, Hernandez's Mineola-based defense attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But during his arraignment in March, Austin said Hernandez denied the charges.

"My client denies shooting anyone or stabbing anyone," Austin said at the time.

Hernandez, a native of El Salvador who is living here illegally after entering the U.S. through Texas in 2016, fled New York after being charged with second-degree assault in 2021, Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the Nassau Police Department's Homicide Squad said after the suspect's March 13 arrest in Maryland.

Prosecutors said that shortly before 9 p.m. on July 19, Hernandez and two other yet unapprehended individuals approached Walter Ochoa as he was sitting on a bench at Uniondale Avenue Park.

The suspects surrounded Ochoa and one of the other unapprehended suspects shot him in the chest, authorities said. Hernandez and the other assailant slashed Ochoa in the neck and abdomen and the victim was declared dead at the scene, officials said.

On Sept. 14, Hernandez and another unapprehended co-defendant were involved in a dispute with two people in the parking lot of the McDonald's on Peninsula Boulevard shortly before 4 p.m., prosecutors said.

Hernandez's friend, riding by the fast food restaurant on a bicycle, pulled out a gun and shot Hector Manuel Valencia Gomez, 19, of Hempstead, multiple times, prosecutors said. Valencia Gomez was then struck by another individual with a large knife as he laid dying on the curb, officials said.

Both of the other men involved in the McDonald's incident have not yet been arrested, authorities said.

The Homicide Squad in March issued a Crime Stoppers alert for Wilson Yanes, 22, of Hempstead, who police expect to charge with the second-degree murder of Valencia Gomez.

Hernandez is due back in court on June 6.

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.