The sole survivor of a brutal massacre by MS-13 took the stand Tuesday on the second day of the Long Island quadruple murder trial.
Elmer Alexander Artiaga-Ruiz, 22, the only survivor of the bloody 2017 attack by MS-13 gang members in Central Islip park, told the jury that he and his friends were lured to the park by Leniz Escobar, according to CBS News. Escobar’s Instagram handle is “La Diablita,” which translates to “Little Devil,” the outlet noted. (RELATED: Gruesome Murders Lead To Major Bust Of Alleged MS-13 Gang Members)
Tuesday was the second day of the MS-13 quadruple murder trial on Long Island. Sparks flew during graphic and sordid testimony on how four teens were slaughtered in a Central Islip park five years ago. @McLoganTV reports. https://t.co/RD239sGz9S
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) March 22, 2022
“La Diablita lured us to a park to smoke marijuana. We were soon ambushed by MS-13 gangsters. Eight or nine covered their faces with sweats, told us to get down on our knees. They had weapons … machetes. I jump a fence and stone wall, ran for my life. One shouted behind me, ‘Hack him!’ Thank God I managed to get away.” Ruiz told the jury, according to CBS.
“Four took the train and saw the light. One got away,” Escobar allegedly told her boyfriend in a phone call amde after the attack, CBS reported. The call was recorded by law enforcement, leading to the arrest of Escobar’s boyfriend, who testified that he was one of at least 12 gang members who murdered the young victims, the outlet reported.
The MS-13 members allegedly attacked Ruiz and his friends for a series of Instagram posts where they “flashed gang signs,” which the gang took as a sign of “disrespect,” according to the New York Post. Justin Llivicura, 16, Michael Lopez, 20, Jefferson Villalobos, 18, and Jorge Tigre, 18, were hacked, stabbed and beaten to death in the attack, another NYP article reported.