Fourth Suspected Gang Member Arrested For Machete Slaying: NCPD

Nassau County Police announced the arrest of another suspected MS-13 member in connection the murder of a teen in the Massapequa Preserve in 2016.

Police arrested Christian Rodriguez, 22, of Surrey Lane, Hempstead, in connection with the murder. He was charged with second-degree murder. Rodriguez is the fourth person police have charged in the crime.

Police say that the four — alleged members of MS-13 — killed Bryan Steven Cho Lemus, 18, of Uniondale, in the Massapequa Preserve in August of 2016. Lemus's remains were found buried in the preserve on May 24, 2019 and identified a few days later.

On Aug. 23, 2016, Bryan Steven Cho Lemus, who MS-13 thought was an enemy of the gang, was walking his dog on Aruthur Street in Uniondale, according to prosecutors, when he was lured to the Massapequa Preserve with the promise of a party with drugs and sex. Once in the park, he was hacked to death with a machete.

He was the second body recovered in the preserve. In 2017, police found the remains of 19-year-old Julio Cesar Gonzales-Espantzay, of Valley Stream, buried in the preserve. Lemus's body was found just 150 feet from where Gonzales-Espantzay was buried.

Police had previously charged brothers Samuel and Raul Ponce, 18 and 19, respectively, and Stanley Gerson Juarez with the murder. Raul Ponce was also charged in the murder of Gonzles-Espantzay.