Man charged in killing of Roosevelt teen found in preserve, police say

A Roosevelt man has been charged in the death of a teenager whose remains were found May 30, two years after he was reported missing, Nassau police said.

Jose Lopez, 19, of Howard Avenue is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at First District Court in Hempstead on a second-degree murder charge in the slaying of Josue Amaya Leonor, 19.

After Leonor’s body was found, Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said there was “no doubt” that Leonor was the victim of the MS-13 gang, responsible for a wave of deaths on Long Island.

Police did not say if Lopez was a MS-13 member.

Remains of the teenager were found in a wooded area of the Roosevelt Preserve, and a law enforcement source described them as bone fragments.

Claudia Erazo, 33, Leonor’s sister, told Newsday in October that not long before his disappearance, her brother said he felt threatened at school. But she said her brother — also known as Joshua Aguilar — didn’t have enemies and didn’t mention gangs to her.

Leonor, a former student at Freeport and Roosevelt high schools, had been friends with schoolmates Angel Soler, 16, of Roosevelt, and Kerin Pineda, 20, of Freeport, according to their families. Soler and Pineda are also believed by police to be victims of MS-13; their bodies were found in October.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated Leonor's school status.