Jose Muniz, one of the five gang members convicted last week of murdering Bronx teen Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz, assaulted a correction officer in Manhattan Tuesday night, a spokesman for the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association said.
Muniz is accused of dislocating the correction officer’s shoulder at the Manhattan Detention Center, known as The Tombs, according to COBA spokesman Michael Skelly.
The attack was one of two that took place over the last 24 hours, according to COBA. Another correction officer, a woman, was strangled Wednesday morning by an inmate being held on a rape charge at the Anna M. Kross Center on Rikers Island, Skelly said.
Both correction officers were treated at hospitals and released, according to the city Department of Correction.
"Our officers are brave public servants who make our jails safer. These attacks are deplorable and we take assaults on our officers very seriously. We are pursuing the re-arrest of those responsible," said Peter Thorne, the DOC’s deputy commissioner of public information.
The assaults follow two other attacks on correction officers in recent weeks, according to COBA, including an incident at St. Barnabas Hospital that ended with a guard getting 10 stitches.
Thursday marks one year since the death of Guzman-Feliz. The 15-year-old from the Bronx was chased down and brutally stabbed to death by Muniz and four other gang members after they mistook him for a member of a rival gang. Guzman-Feliz had no gang affiliations and dreamed of becoming a police detective, police said.
Chilling surveillance video of the attack, widely shared on social media, sparked outrage among the Belmont community, high-ranking NYPD officials and beyond, with many demanding justice online with the hashtag #JusticeforJunior.
Eight other suspects accused of being involved in the attack but who didn’t actually stab Guzman-Feliz are expected to face a separate trial.
