Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 43-year-old Clarence Lamont Bryant of Buffalo was sentenced this morning before State Supreme Court Justice M. William Boller to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. Bryant was also sentenced to an additional determinate term of imprisonment of two years followed by one year of post-release supervision in a separate criminal case, which will run consecutive to his sentence in the homicide case.

On November 15, 2019, at approximately 8:40 a.m., the defendant, with the intent to cause her death, shot his ex-girlfriend in the head with an illegal gun. The shooting occurred in the vicinity of Prospect Avenue and Maryland Street in the City of Buffalo as the defendant waited for the victim to walk back to her vehicle after taking their child to a nearby daycare. The victim, 23-year-old Lekeeta Holloman, was taken by ambulance to ECMC where she died from her injuries.  

A jury found Bryant guilty, as charged, of one count of Murder in the Second Degree (Class “A-I” felony) and one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “C” violent felony). The jury rendered their decision after one hour of deliberations following a three-day trial in February 2022. He received the maximum possible sentence on both convictions, which will run concurrent.

Additionally, Bryant was sentenced today in a separate pending criminal matter. On October 18, 2018, the defendant was found in possession of cocaine in the City of Lackawanna. He pleaded guilty, as charged, to one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree (Class “D” felony) on March 14, 2019. Upon successful completion of a drug rehabilitation program, the charge would have been reduced to a misdemeanor. The defendant failed to complete the program and was sentenced today to a determinate sentence of two years in prison followed by one year of post-release supervision, which will run consecutive to his sentence for the murder and gun convictions.

“There is no doubt that the crime committed by this individual was an intentional, cold-blooded murder. The defendant was lying in wait in a parking lot as he watched this young woman drop their child off at daycare before he shot her in in the head in broad daylight. My heart goes out to the family of Lakeeta Holloman, especially her child. I hope that they feel justice has been served by this defendant being convicted and receiving the maximum possible sentence for this horrific crime,” said Erie County DA John Flynn.

DA Flynn commends Detective Anthony Lapiana of the Buffalo Police Department for his work in the investigation. Flynn also commends the U.S. Marshals Violent Felony Task Force who located and apprehended the defendant in Rochester as well as the Lackawanna Police Department for their work in the drug case.

The homicide case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ashley M. Morgan of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Briana R. D. Miller of the Felony Trials Bureau. The drug case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Rebecca A. Fioravanti of the Felony Trials Bureau.