Police arrest man in double murder of Latin Kings members; victim’s wife says he was 'always looking after the younger kids’

Octavio Figueroa (left) and Dominic Barrera
Octavio Figueroa (left) and Dominic Barrera

Police have arrested a man accused of fatally stabbing two Latin Kings members in Manhattan, including one who proudly took younger members under his wing, his grieving wife said.
Tayvius Lewis, 22, of the Bronx was charged Thursday with murder and weapons possession for killing Octavio “Mousey” Figueroa and fellow Almighty Latin Kings member Dominic “King Damo” Barrera.
Both Figueroa, 36, and Barrera, 21, were knifed to death during a drug dispute in the third-floor hallway of Figueroa’s building in the Frederick Douglass Houses on Amsterdam Ave. at W. 106th St. on May. 28, police said.
Cops found the two men sprawled out on the floor, each suffering from multiple stab wounds. They were taken to Mount Sinai Morningside, but neither could be saved.

Figueroa, originally from Flatbush, Brooklyn, got his nickname “because he liked cheese,” according to his wife. He worked in security and was getting his certification to be a building superintendent, she said.

“We’ve been married a year, but I knew him since he was 11. He was a wonderful father. Everyone loved and respected him. He has two kids and a stepdaughter,” wife Melissa Figueroa, 39, said.

“Both of them were in the nation and so am I," she said, referring to the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens.

Octavio Figueroa lived in the Frederick Douglass Houses with his mother and his daughter, authorities said.

Melissa Figueroa still lives in Flatbush, and has come to the building every day to maintain a shrine in her slain husband and Barrera’s honor.

“They were always together. He (Figueroa) was always looking after the younger kids,” she said. “People were envious of him because he was respected.”

Cops released images of two wanted men seen near Figueroa’s apartment building at the time of the killings. It was not immediately clear how they linked Lewis to the double murder.

Lewis’ arraignment was pending in Manhattan Criminal Court Tuesday. A second suspect was still being sought.

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