Teen, 17, charged in man's death

A baby-faced teen with ties to a Salvadoran street gang was jailed on a murder charge alleging he fatally shot a man in the head, authorities said.

The suspect, Onan Chica, 17, was arraigned Thursday on a second-degree murder charge and ordered held without bail in connection with the Dec. 2 nighttime slaying of Leodan Bonilla, 21, who was killed by the woods off the Southern State Parkway in Brentwood.

Police said the killing was related to the gang MS-13. People who knew him said Chica, who is from El Salvador and now lives in Central Islip, had gang tattoos.

State Police said Chica admitted that he and another person "fired several shots" with a pistol at Bonilla, known by the nicknames "Leo" and "Tweety," striking him in the head. The body was later found by the highway, on the south end of Emkay Street.

Police did not reveal a motive. Nor did they say if the other suspect had been found or how they identified Chica.

Onan's father, Jose Francisco Chica, 62, said police took the boy from the family home in Central Islip Wednesday and said he'd return that evening. Close to midnight, the father said, investigators returned and said the boy had been arrested. "We didn't know he was charged with murder," he said. "We know he is not capable of killing another human being. He is innocent of the charge."

Police later came by and scoured the upstairs bedroom Onan Chica shared with his brother Levi using a dog to search the room, beds, video games and clothing.

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The parents said they saw their son at First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday and he told them he did not kill a man, but had confessed because he feared retaliation if he was out on the street. He did not explain further.

The father said the son had been in trouble at school for hanging out with the wrong crowd and got himself kicked out of school. He said he didn't believe his son was a gangster.

"Here in our home," the father said, "we know him to be a nice, obedient kid."

With Gary Dymski