Five accused members of the bloodthirsty MS-13 street gang palled around like they were having a grand old time in court Tuesday as the family of a 16-year-old girl they’re accused of slaughtering looked on grimly from the gallery.
Enrique Portillo, Alexi Saenz and Jairo Saenz laughed and grinned amongst themselves, their shackles clanking, as prosecutors said they’d yet to hear if the Justice Department will allow them to seek the death penalty for the murder of best friends Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas in Brentwood in 2016.
Mickens, 15, and Cuevas, 16, were bludgeoned with a baseball bat and hacked to death with machetes by the men as the girls headed home from school, authorities have said.
Cuevas’ family filed into the Central Islip courthouse Tuesday afternoon, glaring daggers at their daughter’s alleged murderers from the front pew.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who visited the gang-ravaged section of Long Island in April 2017, has yet to determine whether or not prosecutors can bring a capital case against Portillo, Saenz and Saenz.
The alleged gangsters appeared in court alongside fellow MS-13 members Mario Aguilar-Lopez and Jose Suarez, who are charged with killing a rival gang member and injuring a bystander under the same indictment.
Judge Joseph Bianco mentioned during the short hearing he would be willing to oversee a separate trial for Aguilar-Lopez and Suarez, who do not face the death penalty. Lawyers for both men have yet to file motions to sever their clients from Mickens and Cuevas’ accused killers.
The transnational street gang is believed responsible for over 30 murders across Long Island since 2016.