DA: MS-13 gang member sentenced in murders in Lawrence, Far Rockaway
Elmer Gutierrez arrives at the Nassau County Courthouse on April 17, 2019 in Mineola. Credit: Newsday
A Nassau County judge sentenced a Valley Stream MS-13 gang member to 20 years to life in prison for orchestrating two murders, including the machete killing of a 17-year-old, prosecutors said.
Elmer Gutierrez, 21, pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy for the killings of Harold Sermeno in Far Rockaway and Ian Cruz in Lawrence. The Nassau County District Attorney’s office had recommended 35 years to life in prison.
Nassau County acting District Attorney Joyce A. Smith said Gutierrez planned the murders of both victims and "dealt the final blow" in Sermeno’s murder after he was shot five times in the head and chest.
"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," Smith said in a statement.
An indictment in the case said Sermeno, 17, of Far Rockaway, was lured to a park near the Lawrence Community Center on Dec. 17, 2018. He came there with a then-13-year-old girl, and they were drinking and smoking at a picnic table.
Five other MS-13 members were waiting in the park with a gun and knives when another defendant, Yonathan Sanchez, came out of hiding and shot Sermeno four times in the head and once in the chest with a .22 revolver. Gutierrez then sliced the victim’s neck with a machete, prosecutors said.
The victim's body was found the next morning by someone walking a dog.
Sanchez pleaded guilty and was sentenced in July 2020 to 34 years to life in prison.
Gutierrez also pleaded guilty to planning Cruz’s Dec. 15, 2018, murder in which Cruz was lured to Bayswater Point State Park in Far Rockaway.
Prosecutors said Cruz, 23, of Far Rockaway, was a perceived enemy of MS-13 and walked to the park with the same then-13-year-old girl, who promised drugs and sex. Sanchez came out of the bushes and used the same gun to shoot Cruz four times.
Police said the gang took Cruz’s belongings and went to a Queens apartment where police later found the gun and machete.
Charges against two juveniles, now 15 and 18, and another co-defendant, Carlos Guerra, 21, are pending. A sixth defendant, who was 15 at the time of the killings, pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder is scheduled to be sentenced to 8 1/2 years to life in prison.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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