Two Self-Identified MS-13 Gang Members Plead Guilty to Attempted Murder

 Two self-identified MS-13 gang members pleaded guilty to attempted murder charges in the assault and stabbing of two men in Hempstead in January.

Between the hours of 3:45 a.m. and 4:00 a.m., on January 8, Brandon Meza-Hernandez, Jonny Turcios, and an unidentified male engaged in an altercation with one of the victims near 76 North Franklin Street in Hempstead. The trio began hitting and kicking the victim and stated that they were members of MS-13. Turcios also displayed MS-13 gang signs with his hands.

A second victim attempted to intervene and became involved in a physical altercation with the three men. A bar bouncer from the nearby El Tenampa Bar then separated the individuals. The two victims walked away from the incident and into a parking lot located in the rear of 79 Main Street.

Turcios and Meza-Hernandez then got into a vehicle, in which Jose Lovo Parada was already seated, and began to follow the two victims into the parking lot, cornering them in a nearby dead-end alleyway. The unidentified male did not join them.

Turcios aimed the vehicle at the victims, and at a high rate of speed, drove into them, causing at least one victim to be struck by the vehicle and hit the front windshield. The three defendants exited the vehicle and began assaulting the victims. Turcios and Meza-Hernandez stabbed the victims with a knife that was later recovered from Turcios during an unrelated traffic stop later that day. The defendants then fled the scene.

One victim was slashed in his arm, severing an artery, and was also stabbed in the neck. He was found by members of the Hempstead Police Department and emergency services, and was transported to NYU Langone Long Island Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries. The other victim sustained three stab wounds to his back, resulting in a collapsed lung. He drove himself to South Shore University Hospital for treatment.

Meza-Hernandez, 32, was arrested in Freeport on January 18 by members of the Freeport Police Department.

Turcios, 35, was arrested in Freeport on January 19 by members of the Freeport Police Department.

Parada was arrested in Freeport on February 19 by members of the Freeport Police Department and detectives with the NCPD’s Gang Investigations Squad.

Meza-Hernandez and Turcios each pleaded guilty on November 6 before Judge Howard Sturim to two counts of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (a Class B felony). Meza-Hernandez is expected to be sentenced to 10 years in prison when he is due back in court on January 9, 2025. Turcios is expected to be sentenced to 12 years in prison on January 7, 2025.

Another co-defendant, Jose Lovo Parada, pleaded guilty to Attempted Assault in the First Degree (a Class C violent felony) on August 5. He is expected to be sentenced on November 20.

“My office has long been committed to cracking down on dangerous gang violence, particularly stemming from MS-13, which has worked to thoroughly entrench itself in our communities for years,” said Nassau County District Donnelly Anne Donnelly. “In partnership with the Nassau County Police Department, we apprehended three individuals, two of which are self-identified MS-13 gang members, who assaulted and brutally stabbed two victims in Hempstead earlier this year. Today’s guilty pleas are a testament to our steadfast obligation to ensure the safety of every resident in Nassau and rid these gangs from our streets.”