Almost six weeks after the vicious death of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz took place at a Bronx bodega, reports indicate it’s been sold and purchased by new owners.
NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan confirmed the news to Pix 11 and said the store has been closed since the 15-year-old’s murder. Monahan said he learned of the sale late Wednesday night. (Aug. 1)
Although the bodega is changing hands, it is reported that the new owners have offered to name the corner store after Junior. The slain teen’s family, however, is not in support of the idea.
“I don’t want to put his name here,” Lisandro Guzman, Junior’s father, said. “I don’t celebrate this corner or this bodega that killed my son.”
On the night of June 20, Junior left his Bronx apartment to loan a friend $5 when he encountered more than half a dozen men from the Trinitarios gang. In surveillance video that later surfaced online, the teen can be seen attempting to hide inside the bodega before being dragged outside and stabbed repeatedly with knives and machetes.
After the attackers left, Junior was seen running in the direction of St. Barnabas Hospital. He never made it the emergency room and bled to death on the sidewalk. In the days after Junior’s murder, many in the community demanded the bodega at East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue be closed.
Through tears, the then owner said he tried protecting Junior from the attackers and called 911. He admitted it was him who told the teen to run to the hospital because the ambulance would take too long to arrive.
READ MORE: Six Facts About The Murder Of Lesandro (Junior) Guzman-Feliz