Hempstead man charged in MS-13 killing in Uniondale woods in 2016

A Hempstead resident incarcerated in the Westchester County Jail was charged Friday in the death of a man who was ambushed and killed in Uniondale woods in 2016.

Gerson Stanley Juarez, 24, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of Osmin Campos-Sandoval and ordered held without bail. Campos-Sandoval’s remains were recovered near the Uniondale water tower in October.

Nassau police have said MS-13 lured Campos-Sandoval to the woods because they believed he was a member of a rival gang. But a department spokesman declined to say Sunday if Juarez is a suspected MS-13 member or why he was incarcerated in Westchester, citing the ongoing investigation.

A Westchester jail official confirmed Sunday that Juarez was incarcerated but declined to say why he was being held.

Prosecutors and police say MS-13 members, including Campos-Sandoval's former girlfriend, Sandra Tobar Mejia, 22, of Hempstead, smoked marijuana with the victim in the woods to put him at ease, then assaulted him and buried his body.

Juarez’s attorney, Greg Madey of Mineola, did not return a request for comment. Juarez is scheduled to return to court on May 4.

Juarez was also one of five people charged with second-degree murder in connection with a 2016 machete killing of a Uniondale man in the Massapequa Preserve at the hands of what authorities say were MS-13 members, court records show.

Authorities recovered the remains of 18-year-old Bryan Steven Cho Lemus and said his killers hacked him to death and buried him in the woods. Lemus knew his killers and associated with gang members, who allegedly lured him into the 432-acre preserve after marking him for death because of a petty dispute, according to police.

At the time, Juarez pleaded not guilty to those charges.