An Elmhurst MS-13 gang associate was sentenced on Tuesday, Feb. 24 to nearly a half-century in federal prison for the brutal slaying of a North Corona teenager in Flushing’s Kissena Park, on April 23, 2018, 2,864 days earlier.
Oscar Flores-Mejia, 26, also known as “Chamuco” was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to 45 years’ imprisonment for the murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta. Co-defendants Juan Amaya-Ramirez, 28, a Fresh Meadows MS-13 wannabe known on the street as “Cadaver,” and Leyla Carranza, 25, of Richmond, VA, were previously sentenced to 45 years in prison and 22 years’ imprisonment, respectively, for their roles in the notorious killing, in which defendants severely beat the teenager for more than a half hour before stabbing him and choking him to death.
“The senselessness of this murder is matched only by its brutality,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella said. “The defendants lured Andy Peralta to a secluded part of Kissena Park where they beat him mercilessly before Amaya-Ramirez choked him to death and Flores-Mejia hacked him with a knife. The murder of this teenager is a chilling reminder of MS-13’s callous disregard for human life.”
As proved at a hearing in connection to Carranza’s sentencing, the defendants sought to murder Peralta because they believed he was associated with 18th Street, a rival gang of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13. Flores-Mejia found a video online that depicted Peralta, who the defendants did not know, briefly flashing a sign associated with the 18th Street gang. Flores-Mejia then recruited a 16-year-old boy to help kill Peralta. Amaya-Ramirez’s then-girlfriend Carranza was recruited to befriend Peralta and lure him to his death in the park.
The day of the murder, Carranza messaged Peralta and took him to a predetermined location in Kissena Park where Amaya-Ramirez, Flores-Mejia and their 16-year-old accomplice were waiting. Flores-Mejia has brought a knife and black winter gloves to use in the attack. When Peralta arrived, Flores-Mejia gave a signal, and the men jumped Peralta, beating him until they were exhausted. Amaya-Ramirez then began strangling the teen while Flores-Mejia stomped on his head.
Peralta begged for his life and called out for his mother and father. Flores-Mejia stuffed dirt in his mouth to silence him and Amaya-Ramirez choked him to death. Flores-Mejia stabbed Peralta in the back and slashed his tattoo of his girlfriend’s name.
The men took photos posing over Peralta’s lifeless body while flashing MS-13 hand signs. They stole Peralta’s money and dragged him to a small body of water and left him face down in the mud, where his body was discovered the next day.
“MS-13’s pattern of savagery, depravity and instilling terror in our communities while treating human life as expendable will not be tolerated,” FBI Assistant Director in Charge James Barnacle said. “May today’s sentencing send a clear message: those who commit murder and gang violence for a foreign terrorist organization like MS-13 will be held accountable.”
MS-13’s leadership was based in El Salvador and Honduras, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York.
“Bringing those who commit violent crimes to justice is one of our Office’s highest priorities,” Nocella said.
A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders, and assaults. Since 2010, EDNY has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 45 murders in the district and has convicted dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders.
“MS-13’s violence is methodical, premeditated, and ruthless — its depravity laid bare in the horrific and senseless murder of Andy Peralta in Kissena Park,” Homeland Security Investigations, New York Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso said. “No prison sentence can ever restore what was stolen from his family, who are forced to endure the lifelong trauma of such unimaginable brutality.”
