Skip to content

Rihanna and Cardi B pay tribute to murdered teen

NYPD Lesandro Guzman-FelizNYPD

Rihanna and Cardi B are among many who have paid tribute to a 15-year-old teen who was murdered in the Bronx, New York, last week.

Lesandro "Junior" Guzman-Feliz was fatally attacked with a machete by gang members in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

Several people have offered their condolences online using the hashtag #JusticeForJunior, including Rihanna.

Cardi B, who's from the Bronx, donated $8000 (£6,000) to the victim's family.

"These Bronx streets are ruthless," the rapper wrote on Instagram after uploading a picture of Lesandro and his mother, Leandra Feliz, in hospital.

"People be like 'call the police! call the police' - but for what? The operators be asking you questions for like four minutes on the phone with an attitude and the cops come mad late," she added.

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Presentational white space

Cardi later uploaded a video of Leandra thanking her for the donation, and called for others to visit Lesandro's GoFundMe page.

Lesandro's GoFundMe account was set up by his brother-in-law with a goal to raise $15,000 (£11,000).

In just three days, over 6,000 people have donated to the account and raised almost $150,000 (£110,000).

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Presentational white space

Rihanna also brought attention to the murder when she shared a picture of the teen on her Instagram on Sunday.

"Can't stop thinking about this poor baby boy and how his family must feel right now," she wrote.

"I'm sincerely praying for your healing and #justiceforjunior."

Allow Instagram content?

This article contains content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read  and  before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Presentational white space

Five gang members have reportedly been arrested in connection with Lesandro's murder.

CCTV footage of the incident showed Lesandro being dragged from a shop and stabbed before bleeding to death.

The attackers apparently mistook him for a man in a sex tape that was posted online. The video also featured a relative of one of the gang members.

"The stabbing murder of this young man is among the most brutal crimes I've seen in my 36-year career," tweeted Chief Terence Monahan of the New York Police Department.

In a separate tweet yesterday, he confirmed that this is "still an active investigation".

Follow Newsbeat on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 every weekday on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra - if you miss us you can listen back here.