Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 41- year-old Andre Lewis of Rochester pleaded guilty before State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree, a Class “B” violent felony.

On April 29, 2017, at approximately 8:18 p.m., the defendant and his mother’s ex-husband engaged in an argument in the lobby of the Niagara Frontier Sports Complex on Meyer Road in the Town of West Seneca after a girls’ basketball game.

The argument escalated into a physical confrontation, during which the victim, 54- year-old Robert Echols of Rochester, punched Lewis in the face while the defendant was holding his 14-month-old daughter. The defendant then pulled out his licensed pistol and shot Echols as he was falling to the ground. As the victim attempted to get up, the defendant shot him a second time. Echols later died from his injuries.

Lewis was indicted on one count of Murder in the Second Degree for the alleged crime. The case was prosecuted twice by jury trial in 2018, and both trials ended in a hung jury. Jury selection for Lewis’ third trial was set to begin this morning. In the interest of justice and to provide closure to the family of the victim, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office offered a plea to the charge of Manslaughter in the First Degree.

Justice Buscaglia committed to a determinate sentence of 5 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. Lewis is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday, June 6, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. He remains released on $100,000 bail.

DA Flynn commends Detectives Dan Crowe and Ken Morano of the West Seneca Police Department for their investigative work.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ryan D. Haggerty of the DA’s Tactical Prosecution Unit and Assistant District Attorney Nathanael C. Kapperman of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau.