Two alleged members of the international criminal organization Tren de Aragua have pleaded guilty to multiple charges for the robbery and shooting of a woman walking home from work in Hempstead in May 2024.
On May 22, 2024, at approximately 12:35 a.m., the female victim was coming home from work and got off a bus near a parking lot on Front Street in Hempstead. The woman was walking through the parking lot when Frederick Morillo Chavez and Bernardo Raul Castro Mata came up behind her on a moped. The victim crossed through the parking lot and made her way down the sidewalk when the defendants circled back around on their moped and followed her.
Morillo Chavez and Castro Mata stopped the moped near the victim. Castro Mata jumped off and pointed a gun at the victim and attempted to take her bags that contained multiple items, including AirPods, a debit card, portable chargers, and an iPhone charger.
Castro Mata and the victim struggled over one bag when the victim screamed and eventually let go. Castro Mata took the bag and brought it back to the moped, where Morillo Chavez was waiting. He then returned to the victim and grabbed the victim’s lunch bag. When the victim would not let go, Castro Mata shot the victim in her right arm. The victim dropped her lunch bag, and Morillo Chavez sped off with Castro Mata and the victim’s two bags.
Morillo Chavez was arrested by detectives from the NCPD Third Squad on May 16, 2025. Castro Mata was arrested by detectives from the NCPD Third Squad on June 10, 2025.
Castro Mata had been incarcerated in New York City where he was held on charges brought by the Queens County District Attorney’s Office in June 2024 of Attempted Murder in the First and Second Degrees related to a shooting of two New York City police officers who attempted to pull him over on a moped on June 3, 2024, less than two weeks after the shooting in Hempstead. He was sentenced in the Queens County District Attorney’s case on June 10, 2025, to 28 years in prison.
Morillo Chavez, 22, of New York, NY, pleaded guilty on February 2 before Judge Robert McDonald to Robbery in the First Degree (a Class B violent felony) and Attempted Assault in the First Degree (a Class C violent felony). He is expected to be sentenced on March 16, 2026, to eight years in prison and five years post-release supervision.
Castro Mata, 21, of East Elmhurst, New York, pleaded guilty on August 14, 2025, before Judge McDonald to Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a Class B violent felony); Robbery in the First Degree (a Class B violent felony); and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a Class C violent felony). He was sentenced on October 3, 2025, to 15 years in prison and five years post-release supervision.
“This was a senseless, violent attack on a woman returning home from work. When she fought for her own safety, Bernardo Raul Castro Mata tried to silence her with a gunshot. Thankfully, she survived this terrifying encounter,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “No one in Nassau County should ever have to fear being the victim of gang violence on our streets. These guilty pleas hold both men accountable for the fear and harm they caused. My office will continue to aggressively pursue gang activity in our communities and root out these violent actors.”