Nassau Police Make Third Arrest In Massapequa Preserve Slaying

Nassau County police announced today that they made a third arrest in connection to the murder of a Uniondale man in the Massapequa Preserve in 2016.

Police arrested Samuel Ponce, 18, of Front Street, Hempstead, on Monday. He was arraigned on Tuesday and charged with second-degree murder.

Ponce's brother, Raul Ponce, 19, and Stanley Gerson Juarez, 22, also of Front Street in Hempstead, were also arrested and charged in the murder.

Police say that the three — 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.

Lemus went missing on Aug. 24, 2016, which is when police believe that he was killed. Police said that Lemus associated with gang members, who decided that he was an enemy of their group. He knew his attackers, police said, and was lured to the preserve where he was killed.

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. The older Ponce brother was charged in both murders.