Teen Sentenced for Fatally Shooting Victim In S. Buffalo

Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that a 16-yearold male from Buffalo was sentenced before Erie County Court Judge Susan Eagan, a designated Youth Part judge, to 3 ½ to 10 years in state prison, the maximum he could have received. The defendant was denied youthful offender status. “Our office will not be releasing the name of the juvenile offender due to his age.”

On Sunday, June 26, 2022, at approximately 12:23 a.m., Buffalo Police responded to a shooting on the 100 block of Spaulding Avenue in the City of Buffalo. Officers found the victim, 24-year-old Morrell Buster, Jr., deceased in the middle of the road. The victim died from a gunshot wound to his neck. The juvenile offender, who was 14- years-old at the time of the crime, shot the victim with an illegal gun. The weapon was not recovered.

A jury found the juvenile offender guilty of one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony) and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “C” violent felony). Jurors rendered their decision after approximately two hours of deliberation following a four-day trial in January 2024, convicting the juvenile offender of the lesser included offense in the first count and the second count, as charged, in the indictment against him.