Gerson Hernandez allegedly participated in two killings in 2022
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that an alleged MS-13 member has been indicted on murder charges for a July 2022 killing in Uniondale and gang assault for his alleged role in another murder at a fast-food restaurant in Hempstead in September 2022.
Gerson Hernandez, 21, of Uniondale, was arraigned yesterday before Judge Terence Murphy on charges of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony) and Gang Assault in the Second Degree (a C violent felony). The defendant was remanded and is due back in court on June 6, 2023. If convicted, the defendant faces a potential maximum of 40 years to life in prison.
“In less than two months, Gerson Hernandez allegedly participated in the killings of two men in Uniondale and Hempstead, who were surrounded and slashed with knives after they had been shot,” DA Donnelly said. “MS-13 has wreaked havoc across Long Island and taken too many lives. We will continue to dismantle this criminal operation one member at a time and ensure our communities are safe from the gang’s unspeakable violence.”
DA Donnelly said that, according to the indictment, on July 19, 2022, just before 9:00 p.m., the defendant, acting in concert with two unapprehended co-defendants, identified and approached victim Walter Ochoa at a park in Uniondale. The assailants surrounded the victim, and an unapprehended co-defendant shot the victim in the chest. Hernandez and the other assailant slashed the victim in the neck and caused puncture wounds to his abdomen. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene.
On September 14, 2022, Hernandez and an unapprehended co-defendant were involved in a dispute with two people outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Hempstead. Hernandez allegedly saw a friend riding nearby on a bicycle. The friend, who is also unapprehended, then allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the victim multiple times. The victim was then struck by another apprehended co-defendant with a large knife as he laid dying on the curb. The incident happened just after 3:45 p.m. in close proximity to a high school in Hempstead.
The defendant and the unapprehended co-defendants are alleged to be members of MS-13.
Hernandez was arrested in Maryland on March 13, 2023.
Senior Litigation Counsels Michelle Lewisohn and Tracy Keeton of the Homicide Bureau are prosecuting the case. The defendant is represented by Stuart Austin, Esq.
The charges against the defendant are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
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