Alleged MS-13 gang member Gerson Hernandez pleads not guilty in killing of two rival gang members

An MS-13 member pleaded not guilty Tuesday in connection with a pair of killings of rival gang members last year, including a teenager shot in broad daylight outside a popular Hempstead McDonald's and another man killed at a Uniondale park, Nassau County police said.

Gerson Hernandez, 21, of Catherine Street in Hempstead, faces a second-degree murder charge for the July 19 shooting and stabbing of Walter Ochoa Jr., of Uniondale, along with a murder charge and a second-degree gang assault charge for the Sept. 14 killing of Hector Manuel Valencia Gomez, 19, of Hempstead.

Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador who came to the country through Texas in 2016, fled the state after being charged with second-degree assault in 2021, said Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department's Homicide Squad on Tuesday.

Hernandez declined to speak to the media as he was walked out in handcuffs from Nassau County Police headquarters in Mineola Tuesday morning. He is a member of MS-13's Fulton clique, authorities said, and the slayings may be retaliation for an earlier incident involving the rival 18th Street gang.

"There was an incident that happened prior to these both occasions where a member of MS-13 was injured," Fitzpatrick said. "We believe this to be in retaliation for that incident. Whether they're members or suspected members of the rival clique — some are and some are not."

Hernandez pleaded not guilty through an interpreter to the charges during his arraignment in Nassau District Court in Hempstead on Tuesday. Nassau District Court Judge Marie McCormack, citing the "serious nature of the charges" and his history as a flight risk, held Hernandez without bail.

Stuart Austin, Hernandez's court-appointed defense attorney, said his client denied the allegations.

"We'd like the opportunity to investigate our case," Austin said following the arraignment. "My client denies shooting anyone or stabbing anyone. But other than that … we've been given very little information."

Police allege that Hernandez and two other people surrounded Ochoa as he was sitting on a bench at Uniondale Avenue Park. The victim, who was declared dead at the scene, was shot and stabbed in the neck, Fitzpatrick said at a news conference in Mineola.

Killing in McDonald's parking lot

Less than two months later, Hernandez and two others shot, slashed and killed Valencia Gomez shortly before 4 p.m. in the parking lot of the McDonald's on Peninsula Boulevard, which is popular with local students, Fitzpatrick said. The victim was declared dead at the scene.

"We have video surveillance evidence," Fitzpatrick said. "We also we have DNA. We have a weapon recovered in the Hempstead case as well as eyewitnesses and cooperating people."

Hempstead Village Mayor Waylon Hobbs said local law enforcement was carefully targeting the gang members who were responsible for committing much of the violent crime in the area.

"We refuse to allow the 1 or 2 percent of people that cause problems in our community to get away with it," Hobbs said at a news conference Tuesday in Hempstead.

On Feb. 17, Hernandez was arrested in Maryland on a bench warrant related to the 2021 assault by Nassau police, the FBI, Maryland National Park Police and the Montgomery and Prince George's county police departments. Hernandez was extradited back to Nassau on Monday to face charges connected to the two homicides.

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

Yanes, Fitzpatrick said, may be hiding in Maryland or Virginia.

Another unnamed individual, who is incarcerated in Maryland for a home invasion and an assault, is expected to be appear before a grand jury to face charges in both the Hempstead and Uniondale murders. 

"There are other subjects out there that lent assistance, either prior, during or after," Fitzpatrick said of the two homicides. "We will also be seeking arrest of all those individuals."

Hernandez is due back in court on Thursday. Police urge anyone with information about Yanes' whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS.

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.