Six of the gang members who allegedly butchered an innocent Bronx teen are headed back to New York to face murder charges — as their lawyer whined about how their families have been threatened.
The crew of suspects — Danel Fernandez, Joniki Martinez, Jose Muniz, Jose Taverez, Manuel Rivera and Santiago Rodriguez — appeared in Passaic County Court in New Jersey on Tuesday, a day after they were arrested in Paterson.
They all waived an extradition hearing, paving the way for them to be transferred into New York custody.
They are expected to be arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court.
Judith Fallon, deputy public defender for Passaic County, said the six men are “extremely concerned” for their families in the wake of their arrests.
“Social media has been very active about this case. Their families are being threatened, children,” she told reporters outside the courtroom. “This case seems to have a rhythm out of a need for street justice. Stop the street justice, let the system take its course.”
All of the men except for Fernandez used a Spanish-speaking interpreter during the roughly hour-long hearing. Dressed in green prison garb, most of the men held their heads down as they answered routine questions.
Fallon said they could be transferred to New York as soon as Tuesday.
The suspects and a seventh man, Kevin Alvarez, are facing charges of murder, manslaughter and assault in the stabbing death of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz outside a Tremont bodega.
Sources said they are all members of the violent Trinitarios street gang.
Meanwhile, an eighth person is in custody related to the slaying, a police source said.
Cops are also looking into charging yet another young man for tipping off the gang members to Guzman-Feliz’s whereabouts that night, a second source said. It’s unclear whether he’s the eighth suspect.
“The kid [Guzman-Feliz] was already going out. He went to the store, but someone else told the guys [the suspect killers] where he would be,” the source said. “That’s how they knew how to find him.”