HEMPSTEAD, Long Island — Two men from Long Island who admitted they were MS-13 gang members were arrested on Thursday, police said.
The pair were charged with murder and criminal possession of a weapon connected to an incident on May 30, police said.
Police found Fernando Gonzalez-Chavez, 39, shot in the chest outside of a grocery store in Murray Hill, Queens. EMS pronounced him dead at the scene.
The suspects Roberto Abrego, 23, and Jose Alvarenga, 27, both from Hempstead, were arrested by specialized gang cops in Nassau County.
“This was a cold and senseless act of violence that ended the life of a 39-year-old father from El Salvador,” Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. “The defendants now face the possibility of spending the rest of their days locked behind bars.”
Police told PIX11 in May that the victim could’ve been targeted, but Gonzalez-Chavez’s family said they have no idea who would have killed him.
“This is not something related because he wasn’t doing that,” his cousin Yanira Gonzalez told PIX11 News. “He wasn’t in gangs at all.”
His family members built a makeshift memorial only steps away from an MS-13 gang sign spray painted on the same brick wall Gonzalez-Chavez was shot in front of.
President Trump gave remarks regarding the MS-13 gang activity on Long Island on Friday.
The men face up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
