BRONX, N.Y. — Monday marked three years after Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz's murder by alleged members of the gang Los Trinitarios.


What You Need To Know

  • Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz was made deputy chief of the NYPD's Youth Explorers Program

  • NYPD and community members gathered Monday in the Bronx where he was killed

  • Five men were convicted and sentenced for his death, while a second trial against nine defendants is pending

Guzman-Feliz was a member of the NYPD’s Youth Explorer program for teenagers and young adults interested in law-enforcement.

His fellow Explorers gathered in the Bronx to honor his memory.

"They can be a better person, we can have a better world," Leandra Feliz, mother Guzman-Feliz, said of the Explorers.

It was an example set by Guzman-Feliz, the slain 15-year-old better known to New Yorkers as Junior.

Prosecutors say it was a case of mistaken identity.

"He was a good kid my son was a good kid he was an innocent kid only 15 years old," Feliz said.

His mother says his memory serves as an example to young New Yorkers to end violence.

"I hope for the future of New York we need to stop the violence we want to stop the crime,  to stop all the gangs," she said.

Guzman-Feliz got a posthumous promotion — deputy chief explorer.

"Thank you very much for the honor of Junior," Leandra told the crowd. "And I figure out Junior is happy now seeing how they are supporting his mommy."

He was a symbol of bravery to his fellow Explorers.

"This is a huge milestone, that we wont ever forget and years from now people can see Junior is our chief juniors now legacy holds forever in this program," said Yave de los Santos, a Youth Explorer.

And in his neighborhood, friends like Marissah Barreto, 15, are left with only his name on a street sign and a mural. Barreto spoke to NY1 with permission from her mother.

"I always sit and front of it, just to stop, just to stop. Always, always just to sit and talk," she said of Guzman-Feliz's mural.