Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 22-year-old Ziykeyun Prather of Buffalo has pleaded guilty before State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia to one count of Murder in the Second Degree, the highest charge in the indictment against him.

The defendant admitted that on June 7, 2018, at approximately 3 p.m., he fatally shot 21-year-old Jomar Lopez-Escalera on Fillmore Avenue near Riley Street in the City of Buffalo.

Prather remains remanded without bail. He faces up to 20 years to life when he is sentenced on Thursday, November 8 at 11 a.m. 

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department for their immediate action that led to the arrest of the suspect as well as the investigative work of Det. Christopher Sterlace, Det. Scott Malec and Officer Thomas Sullivan.

The case was prosecuted by Colleen Curtin Gable, Chief of the DA’s Homicide Bureau.