Mourners gather at wake for youngest victim in Long Island quadruple murder

EAST PATCHOGUE, Long Island (WABC) -- Heartbroken family, friends and classmates gathered at a wake on Long Island Tuesday to say goodbye to a student who was brutally killed in a quadruple murder.

"He was a good boy, caring of his parents, good to his mother," mom Maria Llivicura said.

The mourners came together to remember 16-year-old Justin Llivicura, the youngest of the those found dead in a park in Central Islip last week, apparent victims of gang violence.

"He never gave me problems," dad Marcelo Llivicura said. "He wasn't out on the streets. He was always respectful. Now he's in heaven. My son. I hope that the police are able to find the people so this doesn't happen again."

Loraine McCray taught him English at Bellport High School.

"It hurts to think that he was put in this type of position and this type of predicament," she said. "It's just horrible."

The murders come as the government launches a new effort to fight back against gangs.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in particular singled out MS-13, which is believed to be behind these murders, saying in prepared remarks that gangs "represent one of the gravest threats to American safety."

He said tougher enforcement of immigration and border crimes will curb gang activity, and that cities that protect people in the country illegally make efforts to fight gang violence more difficult. So-called sanctuary cities, he said, are "aiding these cartels to refill their ranks."

"If you are a gang member, we will find you," he said. "We will devastate your networks. We will starve your revenue sources, deplete your ranks and seize your profits. We will not concede a single block or a street corner to your vicious tactics."

Sessions was speaking before a meeting with federal law enforcement officials to discuss ways to combat organized crime.

The bodies were found at the intersection of Lowell Avenue and Clayton Street in Central Islip last Wednesday, and authorities say one of them was so badly disfigured that he could only be identified through a tattoo.

Relatives say the victims were going to the park to meet friends when they were attacked by a group carrying machetes. On Friday, they placed flowers at the crime scene, then stood and embraced one another with tears in their eyes, horrified at the violence that had taken their sons.

Now, they prepare to bury their loved ones.

Llivicura will be laid to rest Wednesday at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church in East Patchogue. The other victims have been identified as 18-year-old Jorge Tigre and cousins Michael Banegas and Jefferson Villalobos, both 18.

A vigil was held Monday night at Bellport High School, where Llivivura and Tigre were students.