Overview

• A Nassau County grand jury charged Elias Serrano Bonilla, Edras Daniel Velazquez Giron, Kelvin Martinez, Pedro Martinez Velasquez, and Jeffrey Valladares Archaga in connection with 2024 assaults at Hempstead’s Kennedy Memorial Park and a Uniondale laundromat parking lot.
• All five pleaded not guilty at arraignment and were remanded without bail, with top charges carrying potential sentences of up to 25 years if convicted.
• Prosecutors point to surveillance video showing stabbings and slashing during the attacks and say a vehicle search recovered a knife engraved with the letters “MS.”
• In the Uniondale incident, co-defendants Edwin Patzan Piri and Kennet Contreras previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and are awaiting sentencing, according to court records.
• County officials say the prosecutions align with a broader operation that resulted in 42 arrests across MS-13, Trinitarios, and 18th Street, with two suspects identified as being in the U.S. illegally set to be prosecuted locally rather than transferred to ICE.