Bio

Leslie Torres was born in 1971 and lived in New York City until he was seven years old. After that, his parents moved with him to Puerto Rico, where he spent most of his childhood. He returned to Harlem in the summer of 1987 when he was 16.

Growing up, Leslie faced challenges in his life. He was raised in New York, a city known for its vibrant culture but also its struggles with poverty and crime. When he moved to Puerto Rico, he likely experienced a different environment. However, when he returned to Harlem, he fell in with a group of people who used drugs and engaged in criminal activities.

During this time, Leslie became addicted to crack cocaine. This addiction would later influence many of his decisions. To support his drug habit, he began to steal. He quickly turned to robbery as a way to get money for his cravings. At just 17 years old, he found himself in a life of crime.

Murder Story

Leslie Torres was a 17-year-old who committed a series of violent crimes in New York City from January 1 to January 7, 1988. He shot and killed five men during this time. His first murder occurred on January 1, when he robbed four victims in a span of six hours. During this robbery spree, he killed an elderly man by shooting him twice in the head.

The next day, Torres continued his rampage by robbing three stores in just one hour. In this sequence, he shot four people and killed two. One of the victims was a 40-year-old man named Milton Ronquillo. At the following location, Torres shot three people, fatally wounding another man named Alberto Paypumps.

On January 7, he robbed a neighborhood market and shot two victims. Pablo Rojas was one of the men he shot at the store. Rojas later succumbed to his injuries the next day. By January 8, after committing these acts, Torres was captured on a rooftop following a chase with the police. He was charged with five counts of second-degree murder, six counts of attempted murder, and nine counts of first-degree robbery.

The entire crime spree resulted in the deaths of five men and left six others wounded. The police described his actions as among the worst examples of violence linked to crack addiction. While Torres claimed his drug addiction impaired his judgment, he was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to sixty years to life in prison in 1989.