The 18-year-old suspected of fatally shooting 15-year-old Faridun Mavlonov in Bensonhurst last July was arrested on Thursday, according to the NYPD.
Leopoldo Nash Montoya allegedly shot Mavlonov in the back near the intersection of 62nd Street and 20th Avenue on July 17, 2023. The teen was found unresponsive in the street and was hospitalized in critical condition, but died of his injuries the following day.
Montoya, who was then 17 years old, fled to Panama immediately after the incident, cops said. The NYPD, with help from the U.S. Marshal’s New York Fugitive Task Force and Panamanian officials, tracked Montoya to Panama City and extradited him to the U.S. on June 14. He was cuffed in southern Brooklyn late on the night of June 27.
The 18-year-old faces a slew of charges, including second-degree murder, attempted murder, attempted gang assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and assault. Montoya was silent as he was led out of the 62nd Precinct by homicide detectives on Friday.
Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban attended Mavlonov’s funeral last summer, where the mayor decried gun violence in New York City.
“We must save our children, we’re losing too much and too many,” Adams said at the funeral service. “I am renewed in my spirit of this painful moment to turn it into a purposeful moment to stop the violence that we’re witnessing.”
The teen’s loved ones remembered him as a dedicated student who had aspirations of becoming a UFC fighter. His grandmother, Umaro Kamalova, told reporters last year that her grandson was a “smart, beautiful, peaceful boy who was always helping his family.”
From Jan. 1-June 23, the rate of shootings has remained flat in the 62nd Precinct, where Mavlonov was killed, according to the latest NYPD data — just one shooting has been reported in the precinct so far this year. Homicide is up 100%, though, from one last year to two this year.
