Leniz Escobar, also known as "La Diablita," found guilty of helping MS-13 kill 4 young men
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- A jury has found Leniz Escobar guilty on all counts.
Escobar was accused of helping the MS-13 gang kill four young men.
The former Central Islip High School student was convicted of racketeering, murder and obstruction of justice charges.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported Monday, Escobar, 22, called herself "La Diablita," or "the little devil," on social media.
The accused MS-13 devoted associate was charged with luring victims Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos into a Central Islip park in 2017, where they were killed in a brutal MS-13 machete attack. Prosecutors say she did it to gain favor with MS-13 gang leaders, including her boyfriend.
"We're disappointed," said defense attorney Jesse Siegel. "People should not be defined solely by the worst thing they ever do."
"Our hears to out to the families of the victims. We know that the verdict does not erase the pain you wake up with every day," said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace.
Prosecutors convinced the jury Escobar was the "bait" and "mastermind" behind one of the most gruesome murders in Suffolk County history. She acted after seeing social media posts of the victims she believed disrespected MS-13.
Her family was in court for the verdict.
"She was a young girl who had a difficult life, not having a father, not having a mother, abused physically, mentally," said relative Sindy Escobar. "She was a very smart girl who had a bright future."
More than a dozen gang members were involved in the deadly violence. Several of those arrested came from jail to testify against her as cooperating witnesses. A fifth victim, Alex Artiaga-Ruiz, was lured by Escobar to the scene, but escaped and later said in court "under a full moon, running for my life, chased by gangsters shouting 'Hack him!'"
Escobar's phone call to her jailed boyfriend was intercepted. She spoke in code words in Spanish and English.
"Four individuals are no longer here. I don't know if they'll ever come back, got me? They left on a train last night, got me? Around a certain time... of them didn't... got me? He knows stuff, so now I'm in trouble," she told her boyfriend.
The horror of the gruesome crime among high school students -- more than a dozen are charged in this case, as young as 15 -- put a national spotlight on Long Island's MS-13 gang violence, prompting the former president to visit Suffolk County.
The verdict came in five years to the day of the quadruple murders.
"She faces a potential life sentence. As a matter of fact, if she had not been a juvenile at the time of the offense she could have faced the death penalty," Siegel said.
Leniz Escobar faces life in prison.