In response to the recent stabbing of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, Councilman Ritchie Torres announced a $1 million allocation to preventing further gang violence through an initiative called Cure Violence. 

“The value of Cure Violence lies in recognizing that gang violence is not only a problem that falls in the domain of criminal justice,” said Torres, at a news conference outside Mt. Carmel Church, several blocks north from where Junior was killed. “It’s also a problem that falls in the domain of public health. Gang violence is a public health epidemic, and we must do more to cure it.” Torres represents the district where Junior was killed. 

Through Cure Violence, former gang members will speak to kids and advise them about the dangers and consequences of gang life. The hope is to deter kids from joining gangs. 

Yeshiva University, with locations in the Bronx and Manhattan, is also establishing a satellite clinic at Mt. Carmel Church where mental health experts will help the community cope with Junior’s death. 

Torres also announced that he sent a letter to Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark calling for Junior’s murderers to be prosecuted but also calling out the larger goal of squashing gang violence.  

Junior was killed on June 20 in a case of mistaken identity. Police said the suspects, eight of whom were arrested, were part of the Trinitarios gang. The gang is also connected to the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in the Norwood section of the Bronx on June 18. In both instances, machetes were used to stab the victims. Their attacks were also caught on video. The stabbing of Junior led to a major outpouring of support, with hashtags reading, “#justiceforjunior.”

There have now been calls from several Bronx elected officials to have the bodega where Junior was stabbed in front of to close indefinitely after video surfaced showing employees not helping Junior after he was stabbed.

Additional reporting by David Cruz.