DESTINY SANCHEZ - 15 yo - / Suspect: Stepbrother Luis Vega - Bronx NY

by twinkletoes Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:19 am

Bronx man arrested for drinking with his 15-year-old step-niece in hours before her death: police

Investigators found what appeared to be bruising on the teen's face and torso

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Saturday, November 24, 2012, 1:49 PM

Updated: Saturday, November 24, 2012, 11:17 PM

DESTINY SANCHEZ - 15 yo - / Suspect: Stepbrother Luis Vega - Bronx NY Teen-1

DESTINY SANCHEZ - 15 yo - / Suspect: Stepbrother Luis Vega - Bronx NY Teen-1

James Keivom/New York Daily News

Friends and family grieve for 15-year-old Destiny Sanchez at a memorial
Saturday night on Baretto St. in front of the Bronx home where her body
was found.

The death of a 15-year-old Bronx girl found bruised and doused with bleach has been ruled a homicide and her stepmother’s brother will likely be charged with murder, law enforcement sources said Saturday.

Luis Vega, 34, was taken into custody soon after the body of his sister’s stepdaughter, estiny Sanchez, was found in the lobby of a three-family home in Hunts Point on Friday morning, cops said.

An autopsy performed Saturday concluded Sanchez was choked and smothered, officials said. Bleach had also been poured on her fully-clothed body, sources said.

Destiny Sanchez was killed a week before her 16th birthday.

“She was a good spirit — very happy and outgoing,” said her grieving aunt, Michell Lopez, 37.

Destiny — who was killed a week before her 16th birthday — was visiting her stepmother’s relatives at the Baretto St. home before she was killed.

“I’m in total shock,” said neighbor Angel Nieves, 43. “I’m still trying to digest it.”

Vega was allegedly drinking with the teen before she was found dead, sources said. Detectives charged him with endangering the welfare of a child after he clammed up during interviews, sources said.

He was later taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was treated for a preexisting medical condition, sources said.

DESTINY SANCHEZ - 15 yo - / Suspect: Stepbrother Luis Vega - Bronx NY Destiny3

DESTINY SANCHEZ - 15 yo - / Suspect: Stepbrother Luis Vega - Bronx NY Destiny3

Enid Alvarez/New York Daily News

Family and friends come to light candles and pay their respects to Destiny
Sanchez, 15, who was killed in the Bronx on Friday, November 24.

Vivian Negron, 34 — who also lives in the Baretto St. building — said she saw Destiny’s body after hearing a woman scream about 8 a.m. Friday.

“We just saw her laying there,” said Negron. “Her body was purple.”

She said Destiny’s heart-stricken mother, Evalese Clemente, arrived a short time later.

“I was hysterical,” Negron recalled. “When the mom came back, I held her. She was just screaming and crying. It’s devastating.”

Family and friends gathered Saturday around a makeshift memorial in front of the house, which was two blocks from where Vega lived with Destiny’s stepmother.

Candles were lit around flower bouquets near a cardboard sign that read: “RIP Dee Dee Gone but never forgotten.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/step-uncle-arrested-case-dead-bronx-teen-article-1.1207372#ixzz2DFyL8FTz