MS-13 associate admits role in 2019 killing of boy, 15, in Central Islip

An MS-13 associate who participated in the 2019 fatal ambush of a 15-year-old boy in Central Islip pleaded guilty Thursday to a related charge of aiding and abetting the use of a firearm, federal prosecutors said.

Lidia DelCarmen-Rodriguez, an associate of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, along with other members of the clique, targeted victim Jasson Medrano-Molina because they believed he was a member of the rival 18th Street Gang, according to prosecutors.

DelCarmen-Rodriguez, 19, lured Medrano-Molina and two other individuals to a wooded area in Central Islip in the early morning hours of Aug. 7, 2019, where Medrano-Molina was fatally shot at close range, prosecutors said. 

“The defendant today admitted that she helped carry out a despicable crime by luring a 15-year-old boy to his violent death as part of the MS-13 gang’s agenda to attack and kill their rivals,” said Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, in a news release. “It is my sincere hope that the family of this victim can find some solace in knowing that the individuals responsible for this crime have been brought to justice.” 

DelCarmen-Rodriguez’s attorney, Zachary Taylor, did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Prosecutors said DelCarmen-Rodriguez as well as other MS-13 members and associates wished to attack and kill rival gang members “to elevate their own positions in the gang.” 

DelCarmen-Rodriguez’s two co-conspirators were waiting with a .40-caliber handgun and a baseball bat when the defendant lured Medrano-Molina and the other two individuals into the woods, prosecutors said. The three realized they had walked into an ambush and attempted to flee. Medrano-Molina was pursued and fatally shot multiple times at close range, prosecutors said. The other two individuals escaped. 

Co-conspirator Jose Omar Sorto Portillo, also a member of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, pleaded guilty in October to murder in aid of racketeering for his participation in the murder of Medrano-Molina. He is currently awaiting sentencing.