THE BRONX — Another mural has been painted in the Bronx in honor of a 15-year-old who was stabbed to death by alleged gang members.
The mural, at East 184rd Street and Bathgate Avenue, shows Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz surrounded by candles, a dove, his name, and the date of his birth and death.
Above the teen’s portrait is his nickname, Junior, written out in a halo. Two other phrases mark the mural: “peace,” and “stop the violence.”
The muralist told PIX11 he did not wish to speak about the piece, in order to keep the focus Guzman-Feliz.
It is the second known mural painted in honor of the teen, who was killed June 20.
Guzman-Feliz was inside a bodega at East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue, one block from the mural, that night when he was dragged out and assaulted by a group of men with knives and a machete. The boy’s neck was slashed in the attack.
Video shows the 15-year-old staggering back into the bodega, where some say he was turned away — a claim the owner has refuted, saying those inside were pointing toward a local hospital.
The boy then fled toward St. Barnabas Hospital, ultimately collapsing and dying outside.
The bodega has not since reopened, and a large memorial with pictures, messages and hundreds of candles surrounds it.
A petition has circulated calling for it to be closed permanently.
Eight men, all suspected members of the Trinitarios gang, have been arrested in connection to Guzman-Feliz’s death, and investigators say the boy was killed in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
