Ruthless MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to 50 Years for Brutal Machete Murders

A Devastating Betrayal by “Diablita”

Leniz Esco­bar, a 24-year-old mem­ber of the noto­ri­ous MS-13 gang, was sen­tenced to 50 years in prison for her involve­ment in a hor­rif­ic quadru­ple mur­der that shook the Long Island community.

The Brutal Machete Massacre

In April 2017, Esco­bar, who went by the moniker “Dia­bli­ta” (Span­ish for “Lit­tle Dev­il”), will­ing­ly and enthu­si­as­ti­cal­ly helped plan and car­ry out the bru­tal killings of Miguel Lopez, 20, Justin Llivi­cu­ra, 16, and Jef­fer­son Vil­lalo­bos and Jose Tigre, both 18.

Esco­bar, who was just 17 at the time, con­vinced oth­er MS-13 mem­bers to kill the young men by show­ing them social media pho­tos of the vic­tims sup­pos­ed­ly mock­ing the gang with gang signs. She then lured the unsus­pect­ing vic­tims to a park under the pre­tense of smok­ing mar­i­jua­na with them, only to have them sav­age­ly hacked to death with machetes.

The Aftermath and Sentencing

Esco­bar’s actions had a dev­as­tat­ing impact on the vic­tims’ fam­i­lies, who were present in the court­room dur­ing her sen­tenc­ing. Tigre’s moth­er, Bertha Ullaguari, expressed her anger, stat­ing that Esco­bar “deserves the death penal­ty” for her crimes.

U.S. Judge Joseph Bian­co, who presided over the case, sen­tenced Esco­bar to 50 years in prison, acknowl­edg­ing her “will­ing­ly and enthu­si­as­ti­cal­ly” involve­ment in the mur­ders. The pros­e­cu­tors had argued for a 65-year sen­tence, cit­ing Esco­bar’s con­tin­ued ties to the MS-13 gang even after her arrest.

The Tragic Backstory

Esco­bar’s defense attor­ney, Jesse Siegel, argued that his clien­t’s life had been marked by “a hor­ri­ble, ter­ri­ble” upbring­ing, includ­ing vio­lence, sex­u­al abuse, exploita­tion, and human traf­fick­ing. He asked the court to impose a sen­tence of no more than 32 years, cit­ing Esco­bar’s pos­i­tive progress while in cus­tody, includ­ing earn­ing a high school degree and men­tor­ing fel­low inmates.