A police manhunt is underway for the killer of two teenage girls in a wooded area of Long Island, New York. Police say a driver spotted the body of Nisa Mickens, 15, on Stahley Street in Brentwood on Tuesday night and called Suffolk County police. The girl was going to celebrate her 16th birthday the next day and her body was brutalized. According to police, she suffered multiple cuts on her face and head trauma.
The very next day the dead body of Kayla Cuevas, 16, was found about 200 feet from where Mickens was discovered. Kayla had been reported missing and was also badly beaten. Nisa and Kayla were friends and Nisa’s father had dropped her at Kayla’s house when they were last seen alive. He alerted police when get came back to the pick the his daughter up and the girls were not home.
According to Suffolk County Police Commissioner Tim Simi, “The beating was vicious and anyone who would do this is entirely depraved. It’s hard to imagine something worse.”
The police suspect the girls’ murder was gang related. It was reported that the girls had trouble with members of the MS-13 gang who attend their school. The gang is listed by the FBI as being international and originating out of the Los Angeles area. Most of the members are Hispanic and girl members are extremely violent. One unnamed police source familiar with female gang member violence has stated that disfiguring the face is something women often do when attacking other women. In the infamous Atlanta Doom gang murders, the female gang members were especially brutal in attacking the face and pubic areas of the women killed.
Suffolk County Executive Steven Bellone stated to media, “Words cannot express the sorrow we feel for the senseless loss of Nisa Mickens and Kayla Cuevas. These were two extraordinary young ladies with their whole futures ahead of them. We are committed to finding the perpetrators who are responsible for these heinous crimes.”
On Thursday, a GoFundMe page was set up to raise $15K for Kayla’s funeral. In addition, a $5K reward is being offered for information leading to the killers. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers at (800) 220-TIPS.
