MS-13 member Anthony Gutierrez Meza pleads guilty to deadly bat beating that left teen ‘nearly unrecognizable’

[The Bobster]

MS-13 member Anthony Gutierrez Meza pleads guilty to deadly bat beating that left teen ‘nearly unrecognizable’

MS-13 gang member Anthony Gutierrez Meza pleaded guilty to a 2016 “vicious execution” of a rival gang member after luring him to a Long Island park.

nypost.com

MS-13 member Anthony Gutierrez Meza pleads guilty to deadly bat beating that left teen ‘nearly unrecognizable’​

By
Haley Brown


May 31, 2023 7:37pm
Updated







An MS-13 gang member pleaded guilty to the “vicious execution” of a rival gang member after luring him to a Long Island park with the promise of smoking weed, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Anthony Gutierrez Meza, 25, copped to a first-degree manslaughter charge on Tuesday for his part in the “brutal” bat beating of Estiven Abrego Gomez of Greenlawn in 2016, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.
Meza admitted to prosecutors that he lured 18-year-old Gomez to his death by sending him a Facebook message on August 19, 2016, that asked to meet up at the ballfield at Greenlawn Park and smoke marijuana.
Early on the morning of August 20, the two men entered the park together. Shortly after, other MS-13 members showed up at the park and began walking towards their teen victim, prosecutors said.
Realizing he had been set up, Gomez tried to run away, but he was knocked to the ground with a punch by one of the unnamed assailants.
Meza and the other gang members then took turns beating Gomez with a baseball bat. They also “stabbed and sliced” Gomez with knives and “chopped at him with a machete” until they were satisfied Gomez was dead, prosecutors said.

MS-13 gang member Anthony Gutierrez Meza pleaded guilty to the 2016 murder of rival gang member Estiven Abrego Gomez in Greenlawn.Suffolk County District Attorney's Office
Prosecutors said both of Gomez’s hands were nearly amputated by his killers. Meza and the other men then left Gomez’ mutilated corpse in the park, prosecutors said.


Gomez’ “nearly unrecognizable” body was discovered later that morning by a man who was walking his dog and called 911, prosecutors said.

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The Suffolk County medical examiner later determined Gomez’s death was caused by sharp force injuries and blunt force trauma.


Meza is the third MS-13 member to plead guilty to the brutal slaying.


Lopez Campos pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in April 2021 for his role in the brutal beating.


A higher-up MS-13 member, Santos Contreras, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August 2019 after he gave Meza the greenlight to murder Gomez, prosecutors said.


Prosecutors believe gang rivalry is the motive for the murder.


Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said Contreras ordered a “hit” on Gomez “after the victim was reportedly seen on social media flashing gang signs of the 18th Street gang, which is a known rival of the MS-13 gang.





Meza is due back in court on July 11. He faces up to 22 years in prison for his role in the murder.


At the time Meza was indicted for the murder of Gomez, Meza was in custody in Virginia for his involvement in an MS-13 plan to kill another rival gang member, prosecutors said.