By Forum Staff
Juan Amaya-Ramirez and Oscar Flores-Mejia pleaded guilty on Friday in connection with the April 23, 2018 murder of 17-year-old Andy Peralta in Kissena Park.
As part of their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted to murdering Peralta to gain entrance into MS-13 and also admitted to crimes including cyberstalking resulting in death, murder conspiracy in-aid-of racketeering, assault conspiracy in-aid-of racketeering, and assault in-aid-of racketeering.
Photo Courtesy of U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of NY
Brooklyn U.S Attorney Peace called the Peralta slaying “senseless.”
As detailed in court documents, Amaya-Ramirez, Flores-Mejia and a third MS-13 associate plotted to kill Peralta because they wanted to join MS-13 and mistakenly believed that Peralta was a member of a rival gang. The defendants recruited Amaya-Ramirez’s then-girlfriend, Leyla Carranza, to lure Peralta to Kissena Park in Flushing, Queens, so he could be murdered. Carranza communicated with Peralta on social media and eventually convinced him to meet her in Kissena Park on April 23, 2018. Once inside the park, Peralta was confronted by Amaya-Ramirez, Flores-Mejia, and the third MS-13 associate. The three men beat, stabbed, and strangled Peralta to death. After the murder, Amaya-Ramirez took a photograph of himself and his coconspirators flashing MS-13 hand signs over Peralta’s body.
Under the terms of their plea agreements, Amaya-Ramirez and Flores-Mejia will be sentenced to at least 30 years’ imprisonment and could be sentenced up to life imprisonment.
Carranza previously pleaded guilty to cyberstalking resulting in the death of Peralta and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment at sentencing.
“The senseless murder of Andy Peralta exemplifies the casual cruelty of MS-13’s violence, and with their pleas today the defendants acknowledge their role in this brutal event,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.
