As Long Island Grapples With Growing Fear of Gang Violence, Here’s a Look at 11 Suspected MS-13 Victims

What to Know

MS-13, also called Mara Salvatrucha, is believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s
It grew after some members were deported to El Salvador, helping to turn that country into one of the most violent places in the world
It's now a major international criminal enterprise with tens of thousands of members; about 200 "hardcore" members are on Long Island

Eleven mostly young people have been found dead in two Long Island neighborhoods since the start of the school year. All are believed to have been killed by the notoriously violent MS-13 street gang. Here's a look at the victims:

NISA MICKENS, 15, AND KAYLA CUEVAS, 15

The two girls, best friends, were out for a walk about an hour after sundown on Sept. 13 when four gang members jumped out of a car and killed them with baseball bats and a machete, authorities say. Prosecutors say a week earlier, Cuevas had been involved in a dispute with MS-13 gang members at Brentwood High School. Four teenagers, including two juveniles, were charged in the killings in March.

The bodies of at least five young people, including two teenage best friends, were found in Brentwood over a six-week period last year.

___

OSCAR ACOSTA, 19

Local

New York City 7 hours ago

NYC Department of Correction pulls body cameras after one catches fire burning Rikers captain

Met Gala 10 hours ago

What happens inside the Met Gala? It's a secret! Here are the rules celebrities must follow

Police discovered his remains in a wooded area near some railroad tracks on Sept. 16, three days after the attack on Kayla and Nisa. Acosta had been missing since April 29, when he left his Brentwood home to play soccer. His mother, Maria Arias, spent days going door to door looking for her son. Acosta was born in El Salvador and arrived in the U.S. when he was 16.

___

MIGUEL GARCIA MORAN, 15

The boy's skeletal remains were discovered Sept. 21, close to where Acosta's were found. He had disappeared in Brentwood on Feb. 19 after going off to meet some friends. His stepfather, Abraham Chaparro, says Moran emigrated from Ecuador, liked cars, soccer and girls.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state will be providing expanded access to intelligence and law enforcement resources in an effort help federal and local authorities crack down on the recent spate of deadly gang violence on Long Island. Checkey Beckford reports.

___

DEWANN STACKS, 34

Stacks was walking along a road in Brentwood near a wooded area sometimes used as a gang meeting spot when he was attacked and beaten to death on Oct. 13. Police say it appeared to be a random act. He had only recently moved to the area.

The MS-13 gang has unleashed a wave of terror in Suffolk County. Now leaders are asking for more funding to help fight back. Greg Cergol reports

___

JOSE PENA-HERNANDEZ, 18

Police found his body in a wooded area of Brentwood on Oct. 17. He had been missing since June 13. Police say he was an MS-13 member and was killed because he was suspected of violating gang rules. Several people have been indicted in his death.

Dozens of family friends and community members gathered outside a Long Island high school Monday night to remember four young men killed at a park last week — brutal violence authorities believe is connected to the gang MS-13. Ray Villeda reports.

___

ESTEBAN ALVARADO-BONILLA, 29

A gunman killed him inside a Central Islip deli on Jan. 30. Police say he may have been in the gang. His parents live in El Salvador. No arrests have been made.

___

JEFFERSON VILLALOBOS, 18, MICHAEL LOPEZ BANEGAS, 20, JORGE TIGRE, 18, AND JUSTIN LLIVICURA, 16

The bodies of the four young men were discovered April 12 in a Central Islip park. A grisly video of the crime scene sent to one of the victims' girlfriends shows them lying together with their hands bound. Villalobos was from Pompano, Florida, and was visiting his cousin, Banegas, in Brentwood. They went out the night before and never returned. Tigre and his friend Llivicura lived a 30-minute drive from where they were killed. Tigre's brother told reporters an acquaintance called him to say he witnessed the killings and escaped. Llivicura was born in the U.S. to Ecuadorean parents.

Yensy Fuentes describes how her 18-year-old cousin Jefferson Villalobos and his cousin, Michael Banegas, 18, were brutally killed in a Long Island park, as their family gathered there to grieve on Friday.