Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Flaherty, Jr. announces a guilty verdict has been rendered by Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case in the non-jury murder trial of 19-year-old Diamond Lewis of Keystone St. in Buffalo on an 18 count indictment, including two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, and several other assault and attempted murder charges.

The defendant shot 8 different people at four different locations in the City of Buffalo between October of 2014 and January of this year.  Among the dead are two young men, and among the injured were a 13 year old girl and an 18 year old girl, both innocent bystanders. One of the surviving victims is permanently paralyzed.

“We would not be standing here today without witness cooperation,” says acting DA Flaherty. “We called 32 witnesses at trial, but detectives had to interview so many more than that just to find the evidence that we can take to court.  This community is safer today because of the investigators and my team of prosecutors.”

Flaherty commends Buffalo Police Department Detectives Scott Malec, Mark White and Christopher Sterlace of the Homicide Unit, and Assistant District Attorneys John Patrick Feroleto, Eugene T. Partridge III and Meghan E. Leydecker who prosecuted the case. 

Summary of shootings:

The first homicide took place on October 14, 2014.  The victim, 22 year old David Skipper, Jr. of Buffalo was shot on Erb Street.

The second homicide occurred on June 6, 2015 on Warren St. in Buffalo.  The victim was 18 year old Alonzo Scott of Buffalo.  In this shooting, five people were shot.  Scott died, a man was paralyzed and three others were injured.

On August 13, 2015, Lewis fired several shots from a vehicle at the corner of Playter and Kent in Buffalo, targeting a man, but striking the 18-year old female bystander.

On January 25, 2016, Lewis fired several shots at a group of individuals in front of a store on Fillmore Avenue (near French) in Buffalo and struck the 13-year old female bystander.

Lewis was arrested January 26, 2016 at ECMC when he sought treatment for a superficial gunshot wound.

Lewis is currently remanded without bail, and he faces 50 years to life for the murder convictions and 200 years in prison on the remaining charges when he is sentenced by Judge Case on December 8, 2016 at 9:30 a.m.