Federal prosecutors have indicted two alleged MS-13 gang members in connection with the stabbing death of Michael David Grajeda Suazo on Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, accusing the pair of targeting him because they suspected he belonged to a rival gang. The indictment, announced Thursday, adds another violent case to a Long Island community that has repeatedly been the backdrop for federal and county prosecutions tied to the gang.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, Grajeda Suazo was stabbed to death after being targeted by MS-13 members who believed he was affiliated with the rival 18th Street gang. News of the charges was first shared by the US Attorney EDNY
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What Remains Unknown
As of now, the names, ages, and hometowns of the two defendants have not been made public in the available filings, nor has the current detention status, plea, or next scheduled court date. Grajeda Suazo's age has likewise not been confirmed.
A Familiar Pattern on Long Island
This is not the first time Hempstead-area violence has been linked to MS-13 in court filings. The Nassau County District Attorney's Office has separately brought charges tied to a string of attacks involving the gang's local Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas faction, including an indictment covering an October 2024 assault at Kennedy Memorial Park, where four defendants allegedly attacked six victims with knives and a machete, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office. The same indictment outlines a December 2024 attack outside a Uniondale laundromat in which three of the defendants allegedly struck two victims with white pipes and a machete.
Nassau County prosecutors have said five alleged members of the Hempstead Locos Salvatruchas gang were indicted on conspiracy, attempted murder, and related charges stemming from the Hempstead and Uniondale incidents. In that case, the office notes that the accused pleaded not guilty and were remanded, and stresses that the charges remain accusations, with defendants presumed innocent unless and until found guilty — a standard that applies equally to the newly indicted Hempstead case, where no plea or detention status has yet been confirmed.
Other MS-13 Cases Tied to the Area
Federal prosecutors have pursued other MS-13-related homicide cases rooted in Hempstead and Uniondale in recent years. On Wednesday, October 21, 2026, Carlos Humberto Aquino-Hernandez and Gerson Hernandez were named in an 11-count indictment charging racketeering related to two killings, as reported by Newsday. One victim in that case, 19-year-old Hector Manuel Valencia Gomez of Hempstead, was killed at a Hempstead McDonald's on Peninsula Boulevard in September 2022. The other, Walter Ochoa Jr. of Uniondale, was shot and stabbed at Uniondale Avenue Park in July 2022, the outlet reported. The earlier prosecutions involved different defendants and cases from the Grajeda Suazo indictment.
Federal Prosecutors Point to a Long Track Record
Federal authorities have repeatedly emphasized the scale of their MS-13 enforcement efforts on Long Island. The FBI has said that since 2010, the Eastern District of New York has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 25 murders and has convicted dozens of members in connection with those killings, according to the FBI. The Justice Department has also cited dozens of MS-13 members convicted in connection with murders in the district since 2010.
Federal officials have also described broader efforts to dismantle what they describe as an MS-13 pipeline, including the use of task forces modeled on international anti-gang cooperation, according to an FBI speech on combating gang violence on Long Island. The supplied record does not tie that broader initiative directly to the Hempstead indictment announced this week. For now, the case against the two unidentified defendants remains in its early stages, and all are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
