NYC man accused of killing teen may have had son as accomplice, prosecutors say
The Bronx man accused of gunning down 15-year-old Wesley Vasquez in Harlem’s Riverbank State Park was spotted handing out latex gloves to four accomplices — one of whom may be his son — moments before the murder, court documents show.
Defendant Anibal Cruz, 36, was with four unidentified associates at the state park near W. 138th St. at 6:43 p.m. on Saturday when a fellow conspirator pointed out Wesley amid a group of 10 individuals, according to prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
”Hey, Dad, that’s them,” an informant heard the accomplice tell the defendant.
Cruz then pulled several pairs of latex gloves out of a fanny pack, handing a set to each of his four accomplices, before drawing a firearm, racking the slide and firing off multiple shots, prosecutors allege.
As Wesley fell, a second shooter approached him and fired his weapon before fleeing, according to the DA’s office.
An autopsy found Wesley suffered injuries to the heart, lung and a major blood vessel as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and legs, the city medical examiner said.
Responding officers snatched Cruz when they spotted him trying to dispose of a firearm shortly after the murder, according to prosecutors.
Cruz was arraigned on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday and faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said.
He has three prior convictions, on misdemeanor charges, and was ordered held without bail.
Wesley was adopted by an aunt in 2020 after living without guardianship since his father was deported to the Dominican Republic due to gambling-related crimes in 2014, according to cousin Emily Tejada.
The teen was 7 years old at the time of his father’s deportation and had hoped to visit him, Tejada said.
“He missed his dad,” Tejada, 32, previously said. “It hurt him a great deal. He wanted to go to the D.R. ... to visit him.”
Wesley had a reputation for performing drill rap, a subgenre of hip hop noted for its industrial rhythms and aggressive lyrics, which often explicitly threaten musical rivals, according to another cousin.
“He had mad skills,” said the cousin, who refused to give his name. “He was a lyrical genius.”
Mayor Adams and the NYPD have singled out drill rap for inciting violence, saying the lyrics on songs posted online inflame tensions and promote gang rivalries throughout the city.
“The music definitely inflames the situation,” NYPD Deputy Chief Joseph Gulotta, then commanding officer of detectives in Brooklyn South, said last year.
