Annual basketball game honors Junior Feliz, killed in 2018 gang attack
Friends and family of Lesandro “Junior” Guzman Feliz honored his life through an annual basketball game, raising awareness about youth violence.
A community in Morissania came together on Friday to honor the life and legacy of 15-year-old Lesandro “Junior” Guzman Feliz.
Junior was tragically killed in 2018 in a gang attack.
"I feel like I couldn't do enough to keep Junior alive, but I'm gonna make it my business moving forward to keep every other student alive," said Coach G, who organized the event.
The eighth annual basketball game, Hoops for Junior, has been hosted every year since Junior's passing to raise awareness about youth violence and to bring the community together. This year, school staff at Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School went up against the NYPD.
In the crowd, watching the friendly game, was Junior's mother, Leandra Feliz.
"He loved basketball," she said about her son, who attended the charter before he was killed. "He’d be here jumping and running, and I feel like he's already here."
Feliz told News 12 it was important for her to support the event each year, in hopes that it could prevent the loss of another young life at the hands of youth violence.
