The crowd at the corner of East 183rd Street and Bathgate Avenue in Belmont, the scene of the vicious murder of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, nearly squeezes out of the metal barriers police have set up. An NYPD officer stands in the middle of the street directing a traffic jam as cars slow to take in the scores of candles laid at the steps where Lesandro drew some of his final breaths.

His murder, brutally captured on surveillance footage, has captured the city’s attention over its senselessness.

In front of the shutters at Zesarina bodega, Belmont resident Jennifer Pagan has the attention of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. “You’re a father, you know what it has to feel like,” Pagan says. She reminds Diaz that the thugs who killed Lesandro last Wednesday on this corner treated the boy like he was “less than a dog.” Five people caught on surveillance video stabbing Lesandro were on the run for several days. On Sunday, police arrested Kevin J. Alvarez of Van Nest following an intense manhunt. Four other suspects were caught in New Jersey and are awaiting to be extradited. News reports say Lesandro was killed in a case of mistaken identity.

A large crowd turned out for Lesando’s funeral at Ortiz Funeral Home, with some wearing Lesandro’s school T-shirt.

Pagan’s anger and that of the crowd is directed not only at the gang members caught on video hacking the teen to death but also the bodega workers who did not intervene and the residents of the build who heard screams but did not call 911.

Alongside the candles there were written posters hung on the bodega, with some calling the store owners cowards and a declaration that they were no longer welcomed in Belmont.

The mom of the victim, Leandra Feliz, is calling on a boycott of the bodega.

“These killings can’t go on,” says Micahel Cabrera, a resident. “it took Ruben Diaz five days to finally show up but at least he came. He needs to make our children’s safety top priority.”

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.