NEW YORK (AP) — Two men convicted of the Brooklyn stabbing death of a man they mistook as a rival gang member have each been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson announced the sentencing of Miguel Juarez and Gilberto Serrano on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the two encountered 20-year-old Abel Xochimitl (OH’-shee-mihl) as he left a bar in July 2012 and asked him, “Que barrio?” (kay BAH’-ree-oh)
It translates as “what neighborhood,” but prosecutors say it also can mean “what gang.”
He answered: “Panchito. Brighton Beach.” Prosecutors say that’s when the men attacked the victim with a broken bottle and knife.
Prosecutors say Xochimitl wasn’t a gang member.
