Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 32-year-old Erik Donaldson has been sentenced by Erie County Court Judge Thomas P. Franczyk to 25 years to life in prison for killing his friend. 

In August, a jury convicted Donaldson of Murder in the Second Degree for fatally shooting his friend, 22-year-old Christian Thomas of Buffalo, whose body was found in an area between two houses on Montana Street on April 8, 2008. 

Thomas, who had been missing since December 30, 2007, had been shot in the face and the back. 

“The Buffalo Police Department’s Homicide Detectives pursued this investigation for several years until they found the killer,” says DA Flynn. “This is another example of how murder cases are never closed until justice is served.” 

DA Flynn commends Buffalo Police Homicide Detectives Scott Malec, Brian Ross and Mark White for their outstanding investigative work. 

Assistant District Attorney John Patrick Feroleto of the DA’s Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Nathanael C. Kapperman prosecuted the case.