By Anna Gustafson
Three relatives from Long Island have admitted they killed a man from their home country, El Salvador, on a Little Neck Playground on Christmas Night three years ago in what police suspect was a gang related murder, the Queens district attorney’s office said.
Two brothers and their cousin were involved in murdering Domingo Hernandez, 35, a Little Neck resident who, like the Rodriguez family, moved to the United States from El Salvador, according to the DA and court papers.
Hernandez, of 251-20 Northern Blvd., was found beaten and stabbed to death in Admiral Park near the intersection of Little Neck Parkway and 42nd Avenue on the morning after Christmas in 2007, police said.
Santos Rodriguez, 22, pleaded guilty last week to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while his cousins Balmore Rodriguez, 23, and Jose Rodriguez, 21, pleaded guilty earlier this month, the Queens DA said. Balmore Rodriguez was sentenced to 20 years behind bars, while Jose Rodriguez received 17 years in prison, according to the DA. Balmore and Jose Rodriguez are brothers. The three lived in Great Neck, L.I.
City Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Whitestone) said he was relieved closure was coming to the case.
“Council member Halloran is pleased to see justice has been done for these horrible crimes,” said Steven Stites, a spokesman for Halloran. “He is hopeful that this conviction will give the victim’s family members peace at last.”
DA Richard Brown said that on Christmas, a woman called Hernandez and asked him to meet her in Admiral Park. Brown said Balmore Rodriguez, Jose Rodriguez and Santos Rodriguez waited for Hernandez at the park, and when he arrived, stabbed, punched, kicked and bludgeoned him with a baseball bat, killing him.
The woman who called, Rosana Juarez Avalos, 18, was expected to be sentenced this week, the DA’s office said.
Police said they believed those sentenced were members of Mara Salvatrucha 13, an El Salvador-based gang known for committing ruthless acts of violence.
Authorities previously told TimesLedger Newspapers that MS-13 had been growing around the country in recent years, including in Nassau County, but the gang tends to avoid New York City because of the strong police presence. Law enforcement sources said for this reason, while pockets of MS-13 are believed to exist in the 103rd, 109th and 113th precincts, the gang is more prominent in areas like Nassau County and parts of New Jersey, where police coverage is not as widespread.
Little Neck is known as an upscale, quiet neighborhood, and Hernandez’s murder was the first slaying in the neighborhood since 1991, when a man strangled a 31-year-old woman in her Little Neck home.
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
