MINEOLA, N.Y. -- An MS-13 member was sentenced Tuesday to 20-years-to-life in prison for their role what officials called a "murder spree" in Queens and on Long Island.
Elmer "Revolver" Gutierrez, 21 of Valley Stream, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy and was sentenced this week.
Acting Nassau District Attorney Joyce Smith says Ian Cruz, a 23-year-old perceived enemy of MS-13, was lured to Mayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway on promises of drugs and sex on Dec. 15, 2018.
Cruz met a female and walked to the park, while Yonathan Sanchez and Carlos Guerra and a 15-year-old hid in the park, armed with knives, the DA says.
Sanchez then emerged and shot Cruz four times the head, according to the DA. Cruz's belongings were taken and those in the park fled.
According to the acting DA, Gutierrez was among the group that planned Cruz's killing — but he was not actually there the night of the murder.
Cruz's body was found the following day by a person walking in the park, according to Smith.
Then on Dec. 17, 2018, 17-year-old Harold Sermeno was lured to Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence, according to a news release. There, five people surrounded him, Sanchez shot him five times and Gutierrez sliced his neck with a machete.
Sanchez, Guerra, Gutierrez and two minors were arrested days later, while a sixth person, also a minor, was arrested eight days later.
Sanchez was sentenced to 34-years-to-life in prison in July 2020.
"Elmer Gutierrez helped to orchestrate the murders of both Ian Cruz and Harold Sermeno and dealt the final blow in Sermeno's murder," says Smith. "This despicable gang violence, spanning Nassau and Queens counties, will not be tolerated, and defendants like Gutierrez will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for their crimes."
Guerra's case is currently still pending. The cases against an 18-year-old male (who was 15 at the time of the alleged crime) and a 15-year-old female (who prosecutors say was 13) are also pending. Another person who was 15 at the time pled guilty to a count of second-degree murder and is set to be sentenced to 8.5 years-to-life.
