DA: Suspect in witness killing admits to being MS-13

The 17-year-old accused of killing a New Cassel man who was slated to testify against his MS-13 attackers after a 2018 assault has admitted to being a gang member who hit the victim with a bat, according to prosecutors.

Nassau prosecutor Jared Rosenblatt said Tuesday in court he was turning over to the defense a video on which he said the teenager made those admissions to homicide investigators. The teen appeared in a Youth Part courtroom following his Saturday arrest.

The teen’s attorney, Dana Grossblatt, said later that police were under pressure to make a quick arrest in the slaying of Wilmer Maldonado Rodriguez, 36, and got the “wrong person.”

Authorities are prosecuting the 17-year-old as an adolescent offender and haven’t publicly identified the New Cassel resident by name following his arrest on a second-degree murder charge and two attempted murder charges.

A probation official said in court Tuesday that the teen had cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet in the past and previously faced assault and weapon offenses.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said at a Feb. 5 news conference that Rodriguez’s slaying happened after the victim’s identity as someone willing to testify against his alleged MS-13 attackers in the 2018 case was released as part of a pre-trial process — which involved multiple defendants.

“We believe the information that was released, our victim’s information, which should have been protected, was turned over too early. Immediately after it was turned over, you saw the intimidation pattern start,” he said then. 

But now police also have charged the suspect, who remains in juvenile custody, with taking part in the same October 2018 attack on Rodriguez — allegations that suggest the teenager could have recognized the victim from prior contact.

On Tuesday, Nassau police spokesman Det. Lt. Richard LeBrun said it was “still being investigated” whether the release of information in the pre-trial process was linked to the deadly attack.

He added that Ryder maintained he didn’t blame defense attorneys for releasing the witness' name, saying the commissioner "stated that he gave the facts and the public could make their own assumptions."

But Grossblatt stressed Tuesday that police erred in arresting her client.

“I think that the police were under incredible pressure to make an arrest and make it fast. And in doing so, I believe that they cut corners and that they have the wrong person,” she said.

LeBrun responded later by saying "all cases are thoroughly investigated before an arrest is made."

Grossblatt also said her client told her he wasn’t involved in the Feb. 2 slaying, the October 2018 assault on Rodriguez, or a Feb. 1 beating of Rodriguez at the same abandoned New Cassel property where he later was found dead.

She added “it was outrageous” to suggest other defense attorneys leaked information leading to Rodriguez’s death and that she had seen no evidence of it.

Court records show the trial of two of the defendants facing related attempted murder charges, Denis Pineda, 20, and Elian Ramos Velasquez, 19, was delayed after its expected start.

Following Rodriguez’s slaying, attorney Greg Madey, who represents Pineda, and attorney Justin Feinman, who represents Velasquez, denied releasing any victim or witness names to their clients.

Court records show Acting State Supreme Court Justice Helene Gugerty previously gave them permission to reveal the names to their clients on Jan. 6, when the trial was scheduled to start. The attorneys have said they agreed to keep withholding the identities when it didn’t start on time.

Records also show Gugerty ordered prosecutors to disclose the names in late December in anticipation of the trial date and a change in the law in 2020 that gives defendants earlier access to evidence before a trial.

Ryder and Nassau County Executive Laura Curran initially linked Rodriguez’s death to that change in the law, but later backtracked.

Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas released a Feb. 5 statement saying her office protected Rodriguez’s identity by getting a 2018 protective order “but his identity was disclosed pursuant to a judge’s order in December 2019.”

A Singas spokesman said Tuesday there is an ongoing investigation into whether any evidence linked Rodriguez’s slaying to the release of his name, but prosecutors have no reason to believe defense attorneys didn’t protect Rodriguez’s identity.