By Shayna Jacobs and Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Staff
WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A machete-wielding killer and his vicious gang of thugs are still on the loose after murdering a 17-year-old boy in Washington Heights, a law enforcement source said.
Prosecutors have arrested and charged Andy Henriquez, 16, with the June 18 murder of Mohamed Jalloh, of the Bronx, but they don't believe he’s the killer, according to the criminal complaint.
They believe a group of "about eight males" was involved, but so far no one else has been caught.
Henriquez was charged with second-degree murder and gang assault. He faces the murder charge because the killing was conducted during the course of another serious crime, prosecutors said.
His indictment remains sealed until his arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court on July 7.
According to the complaint, Henriquez punched the victim while an unnamed accomplice stabbed him with the machete.
"He didn't even have a weapon," said Henriquez's attorney Andres Aranda, who added that his client should not have been charged with second-degree murder.
Jalloh was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center on West 168th Street after the attack and was pronounced dead of multiple stab wounds.
Henriquez was arrested after walking into the hospital to get treatment for cuts on his hand, police said.
It was not immediately clear whether Henriquez belonged to a gang.
The machete is traditionally used by a gang called the Trinitarios, one of the most feared gangs in America that originated in Washington Heights.
