GUILTY NY - Four killed, 4 injured in Buffalo shooting, 14 Aug 2010

KaylynnCouture

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A shooting outside a restaurant in downtown Buffalo early Saturday left four people dead and four wounded, police said. The victims were leaving a large party inside the City Grill bar and restaurant about 2:30 a.m. when gunfire erupted, police and witnesses said. Police were investigating witness reports that an argument may have broken out inside. Investigators did not know how many shooters there were.

"We're trying to sort all of that out," Homicide Chief Dennis Richards said. "We're checking to see if something precipitated this from inside."

Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene in the city's business district and a fourth died at a hospital. The dead included two men and two women, Richards said. Authorities did not release their identities.

Snipped from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/1...restaurant-wedding-reception/?test=latestnews
 
Keith Johnson, 25, of Buffalo was charged Saturday afternoon with four counts of second-degree murder and could face more charges. Johnson was in custody late Saturday afternoon and unavailable for comment.

Police didn't know whether Johnson was involved in the earlier altercation and asked witnesses to speak up.

Snipped from http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/08/1...restaurant-wedding-reception/?test=latestnews
 
Link

Officials say they may have charged the wrong man
Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III: 'We are having serious second thoughts'
By Lou Michel, Jay Rey and Maki Becker
News Staff Reporters

Updated: August 15, 2010, 1:18 AM

A parolee released from prison just two and a half weeks ago was arrested Saturday in connection with the worst carnage the City of Buffalo has experienced in at least three decades.

But before the day ended, law enforcement officials said they think they got the wrong man.

"We are having serious second thoughts," said Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III. "I have serious reservations about whether we have the right guy here."

Sedita said he planned this morning to move in City Court to dismiss charges against Keith D. Johnson, 25, of Buffalo, who was accused of murdering four people outside a downtown bar. Among those killed was a man who invited friends to the City Grill as part of his wedding anniversary celebration. The shooting also wounded four others, one critically....


Wow that takes a lot of guts to admit you're wrong. :thumb:
 
Link

Officials say they may have charged the wrong man
Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III: 'We are having serious second thoughts'
By Lou Michel, Jay Rey and Maki Becker
News Staff Reporters

Updated: August 15, 2010, 1:18 AM

A parolee released from prison just two and a half weeks ago was arrested Saturday in connection with the worst carnage the City of Buffalo has experienced in at least three decades.

But before the day ended, law enforcement officials said they think they got the wrong man.

"We are having serious second thoughts," said Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III. "I have serious reservations about whether we have the right guy here."

Sedita said he planned this morning to move in City Court to dismiss charges against Keith D. Johnson, 25, of Buffalo, who was accused of murdering four people outside a downtown bar. Among those killed was a man who invited friends to the City Grill as part of his wedding anniversary celebration. The shooting also wounded four others, one critically....


Wow that takes a lot of guts to admit you're wrong. :thumb:

BBM. Yes, it does. I wish more LE would do the same and lose the tunnel vision some of them develop. Erie County has my utmost respect.
 
I don't think you usually people on LE enforcement come out and admit they were wrong because, while charges have been dropped, Johnson still remains someone they are looking at, and if it ever came to a point where he again was arrested you can beleive his defense attorneys would have a field day. I would also think that you may open yourself up to legal action by admitting you were wrong.
 
Link

Mother of briefly jailed suspect: 'They should have examined the videotapes'

...Johnson, 25, who was recently released on parole after serving three years for a violent assault, was arrested on murder charges at his mother's home by members of the Buffalo Police Special Weapons and Tactics Team late Saturday morning, about nine hours after the shootings.

But late Saturday night, Sedita told The News that authorities no longer believed Johnson was the shooter and were planning to ask for the charges to be dropped....


I'm sorry they arrested the wrong guy but he was just released for violent assault and, IMO, it's natural the police would look at him. Especially when this part of the article is taken into consideration;

...Sedita told The News that police arrested Johnson based on information from witnesses who said a man named Keith who was recently released on parole may have been involved in the shootings. After checking parole records, they came up with Keith Johnson.

He said that detectives who questioned Johnson found that he "changed his story of what happened several times." Sedita said apparently an item of clothing that appeared to be bloodstained was found at Johnson's home....
 
Here's another article;

He was picked out of a photo lineup too.

Probe of city shootings begins anew
Charges dismissed against suspect; arrest criticized
By By Dan Herbeck
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

...After checking parole records, detectives came up with Keith Johnson, and a witness to the shootings picked Johnson from a photo array, police said....
 
It appears this was gang related.

Police searching for man affiliated with gang, sources say
By Dan Herbeck and Stephen T. Watson
News Staff Reporters

A dispute between members of two city street gangs may have led to the shootings that killed four people at a downtown restaurant over the weekend, reliable sources told The Buffalo News today.

And according to a prominent East Side pastor, police have been searching the city for one suspect -- a young man reportedly affiliated with a gang -- for more than 24 hours.

"I know the police have been searching for this young man, and I am trying through intermediaries to get him to turn himself in," said the Rev. Darius G. Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel Baptist Church. "I want to help this young man to turn himself in to the police, and I'm willing to help him in any way I can.

"I want him to turn himself in, because I know there are other people searching for him who are very, very upset about these shootings, and he could be in serious danger."
...

I have no problem with gang knuckleheads killing each other but it looks like some innocent people were killed here too.
 
Here's another article;

He was picked out of a photo lineup too.

Probe of city shootings begins anew
Charges dismissed against suspect; arrest criticized
By By Dan Herbeck
NEWS STAFF REPORTER

...After checking parole records, detectives came up with Keith Johnson, and a witness to the shootings picked Johnson from a photo array, police said....

Photo line ups aren't always reliable.
As this case appears to demonstrate.
 
Photo line ups aren't always reliable.
As this case appears to demonstrate.

I agree, but with the other circumstantial evidence I can easily understand why they'd think it's him. JMO
 
This article has info on how and why the suspect was arrested and charged.

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article103354.ece

Officials cite factors in charging wrong man
Suspect held because of a witness ID, bloody shirt, people yelling his name and his lack of candor
By Gene Warner
News Staff Reporter

A highly credible witness to the City Grill shooting had picked Keith D. Johnson out of a six-man photo array.

Police searching Johnson's Minnesota Avenue home found a shirt that appeared to be blood-stained and had the same predominant color as the shooter's.

Detectives heard that just after the shooting early Saturday, people had run back into the City Grill yelling, "Keith, Keith, Keith."

And police say Johnson gave detectives at least five different stories about whether he was at the Main Street shooting scene and how he got there....
 
Bargnesi warned jurors during the selection process that the evidence and testimony they'd be evaluating would be "sad, infuriating, and at times gruesome." He also warned jurors that video evidence might not be of the quality people are used to seeing on TV crime shows like Law & Order or CSI, and that there won't be any murder weapon presented into evidence.
http://www.wben.com/Riccardo-McCray-Quadruple-Murder-Trial-Starts-Frid/9422610

~~~~~

Trial begins Friday 3/18/11
 
After seeing McCray shoot his first victim in the back of the head, Davis said he ran back to "Dave's" car only to find "Dave" bringing McCray back to the car. He said the three of them drove off with McCray sitting in the back seat vomiting.

Davis said that at "Dave's" insistance, he discarded McCray's murder weapon as they stopped on a bridge on their way to the Riverside area. Davis said he undid his own shirt and used it to grab the murder weapon so he would not leave any fingerprints on it, then got out of the parked car and tossed it over a bridge. Davis told the jury he walked to the Fillmore District police station three days after the massacre, flagged down a female police officer and gave detectives a written statement, initially not mentioning "Dave" or that he himself discarded the murder weapon.
http://www.buffalonews.com/topics/city-grill-shootings/article375387.ece
 
BUFFALO, NY (WIVB) - Riccardo McCray introduced himself to western New York for the first time when he surrendered to police and News 4 Senior Corespondent Rich Newberg at the Channel 4 studios last summer.

Today Rich Newberg and McCray were once again in the same room. Newberg was called to the stand to testify about the day the murder suspect turned himself in and all that was said and caught on camera.

http://www.wivb.com/dpp/news/crime/Rich-Newberg-took-stand-in-McCray-trial
 
Both the prosecution and defense rested their cases Tuesday afternoon in the Riccardo McCray murder trial. After closing statements on Thursday, jury deliberations are expected to get underway.

Erie County Court Judge Sheila DiTullio told jurors to pack a bag and expect to be sequestered if they are without a verdict at the end of the day.

Defense attorney Joseph Terranova did not call a single witness.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/116032/37/McCray-Jury-Will-Deliberate-on-Thursday
 
In his closing argument, defense attorney Joseph Terranova referred to most of the prosecution's 49 witnesses as liars looking to cut a deal for themselves. "If a witness testified falsely or lied, " Terranova told the jury, "you should disregard their entire testimony."

In the prosecutions' closing argument, Prosecutor James Bargnesi urged the jurors to hold McCray accountable. "This is our killer," said Bargnesi as he pointed to McCray. He went on to add, "the basslistics tell us that the same man who shot once, is the same man who shot all."

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/116389/292/Prosecution-to-Jury-This-is-Our-Killer
 
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Lawyers on both sides have reacted to the guilty verdict that the jury returned with in the Riccardo McCray trial.

McCray was found guilty of 3 murder charges, and a couple attempted murder charges in the City Grill Case. Prosecutors said he was the gunman behind the mass shooting that left 4 people dead and 4 others injured.

http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/116487/1/Both-Sides-React-to-City-Grill-Verdict
 
Riccardo M. McCray, calmly professing his innocence, today was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole for killing four and wounding four others outside the City Grill last Aug. 14.

"My heart goes out to the families but I'm not the shooter and God knows I'm not the shooter, and that's all that matters to me," the 24-year-old McCray said during his late-morning sentencing.

Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio did not buy that explanation.

"You're a and you're a murderer and a person of no conscience," DiTullio calmly told McCray.:woohoo:

http://www.buffalonews.com/topics/city-grill-shootings/article441446.ece
 

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