Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 31-year-old Sirwilliam Hardy of Cheektowaga has pleaded before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect in the deadly shooting of his father.

On April 3, 2017, at the defendant’s home at 212 Whitney Place in Cheektowaga, Hardy fatally shot his father, 54-year-old William Hardy of Fairfield, California.

DA Flynn consented to the plea after the People’s psychiatric expert agreed with the defense psychiatric expert that the defendant was suffering from a mental disease and lacked the capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the fatal shooting.

The defendant will undergo further mental evaluations before being placed in a secure psychiatric facility for treatment.

DA Flynn commends the investigative work of the Cheektowaga Police Department, including Lt. Tom Wentland and Detectives Christopher Chojnacki, David Mossman and Jim Genson.

Assistant District Attorney Michael D. Smith in the DA’s Homicide Bureau prosecuted the case.