Long Island MS-13 member gets 55 years for quadruple murder

Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News on May 8, 2025

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NEW YORK — A Long Island member of notorious street gang MS-13 was sentenced Wednesday to 55 years in prison in connection with a quadruple murder in Central Islip in 2017.

Omar Antonio Villalta, now 29, pleaded guilty in 2023 in connection with the killings of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez Banega, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos in a Long Island park on April 11, 2017.

The murders of Llivicura, 16; Banega, 20; Tigre, 18, and Villalobos, 18, have led to lengthy prison sentences for numerous MS-13 members on Long Island.

Two teen girls, Leniz Escobar and Keyli Gomez, lured the victims to the park under the guise of smoking marijuana together, police said. At the park, they were met by more than a dozen MS-13 members, who viciously hacked and stabbed the targets to death.

Investigators have said the victims were marked for death because they were suspected of being rival gang members and flashed MS-13 gang signs despite not being in the gang.

Escobar was sentenced to 50 years in prison, while Gomez got only 12 years after she flipped and testified against her friend.

Several of the killers have been sentenced as well. Freiri Martinez, who was only 15 years old at the time of the murders, got 50 years in prison, and Josue Portillo, who was also just 15, got 55 years behind bars. Anderson Sanchez got 32 years, while Alexis Hernandez was sentenced to 29 years.