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Man Indicted for 2012 Murder and Sex Attack of 15-Year-Old Girl: Officials

By Eddie Small | May 19, 2014 2:25pm | Updated on May 19, 2014 6:29pm
 Luis Vega has been charged with the murder of Destiny Sanchez, 15.
Luis Vega has been charged with the murder of Destiny Sanchez, 15.
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Facebook/RIP Destiny Sanchez

HUNTS POINT — A man has been indicted for sexually abusing and murdering a 15-year-old girl in The Bronx more than a year after she was found dead in Hunts Point, according to officials and court papers.

Luis Vega was being eyed for the 2012 strangling death of Destiny Sanchez, but was only charged with child endangerment at the time as investigators awaited the results of lab tests.

Vega was arrested on May 16 and faces two counts of second-degree murder, one count of a criminal sex act in the first degree and one count of a criminal sex act in the third degree, according to court papers.

The indictment alleges that he strangled and sexually attacked Sanchez, who hoped to become a lawyer and who a neighbor had described as friendly and composed.

Sanchez was found bruised and unconscious in an apartment at 640 Barretto St. on Nov. 23, 2012, and emergency responders were unable to revive her. Police and family members said she was visiting relatives of her father's girlfriend.

Vega, the brother of Sanchez's father's girlfriend, had been charged with endangering the welfare of a child after allegedly drinking liquor with Sanchez shortly before she died.

The results of that case were not clear.

Ivelisse Clemente, Sanchez’s mother, said she was happy that charges had been filed, providing some closure.

“I will never be over it,” she said, “but I do have some weight lifted off of my shoulders knowing that they got somebody, and they’re charging him with what happened to her.”

Sanchez's cousin, Edwin Soto, was grateful for the charges as well.

"The wheels of justice turn slowly," Soto said, "but they always turn."