Elmer Gutierrez: MS-13 member held for double murder after using girl, 13, to lure victims
A member of the MS-13 street gang nicknamed “Revolver” pleaded guilty for participating in the brutal murder of two young men in December 2018 in Far Rockaway, Queens, and Lawrence, Long Island.
Elmer Gutierrez, 21, a Valley Stream resident, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder and first-degree conspiracy charges on June 23, 2021. He will be sentenced on August 10, 2020. The prison sentence is expected to be 20 years of life in prison. The Nassau County prosecutor’s office recommended a minimum sentence of 31 years. “Elmer Gutierrez and his co-defendants methodically planned the murder of Ian Cruz for allegedly disrespecting the MS-13," acting district attorney Joyce Smith said in a press release. "Just two days later, Gutierrez sliced the neck of 17-year old Harold Sermeno with a machete after the victim was shot multiple times. This senseless violence has no place in our community, and I thank our partners at the NYPD, NCPD, Queens District Attorney’s Office and FBI Long Island Gang Task Force for helping solve these two murders.”
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Cruz, 23, a Far Rockaway resident considered an enemy of MS-13, was lured to Bayswater Point Park in Far Rockaway on December 15, 2018, with the promise of drugs and sex. Cruz was allegedly seduced by a girl who was 13 years old then. Cruz was walking into the park while Yonathan Sánchez, Carlos Guerra and allegedly a 15-year-old teenager were hiding in the park, armed with knives. Sánchez came out of the bushes and shot Cruz four times in the head with a .22 calibre revolver, according to the prosecution. They also took Cruz’s belongings and fled to an apartment on Nameoke St in Far Rockaway, where Sánchez and Guerra lived. Gutierrez allegedly helped plan Cruz’s murder, but was unable to be there the night of the crime, authorities said. Cruz's body was found by a visitor to the park the next day, on top of a blanket in his underwear.
After two days, Sermeño (17) was lured to the Five Towns Community Center in Lawrence. There he and the same 13-year-old girl came to a park and they started drinking and smoking at a picnic table. At that moment, Sánchez came and shot Sermeño four times in the head and once in the chest. Gutierrez then also allegedly slit his neck with a machete. Sermeño was found the next morning by a dog walker. Sanchez was convicted to a minimum of 34 years in July 2020.
Long Island, an area neighboring NYC, is one of the areas with the largest presence of MS-13 in the United States. The gang is accused of dozens of murders and disappearances. The group is associated with recruiting young people, mostly of Latino origin.