Defendant Sentenced for Fatally Shooting Victim Inside Auto Repair Shop in September 2018

Modified: July 28, 2021 10:32am

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7/28/2021

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 38-year-old James J. Robbs, Jr. of Buffalo was sentenced this morning by State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns to 35 years to life in prison.  

On September 1, 2018, at approximately 2:30 p.m., the defendant intentionally shot 32-year-old Michael Jenkins, Jr. multiple times inside an auto repair shop on East Ferry Street near Ernst Avenue in the City of Buffalo. The victim died from his injuries.

A jury convicted Robbs of one count of Murder in the Second Degree (Class “A-I” felony) and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (Class “C” violent felonies) on June 11, 2021. He was found guilty of all counts in the indictment against him.

DA Flynn commends Det. Sgt. Carl Lundin and Det. Joy Jermaine of the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad for their work in the investigation and Case Manager Kimberly Rapp of the DA’s Victim Witness Services Bureau for her assistance with the family of the victim. 

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Eugene T. Partridge, III and Chief Gary W. Hackbush and of the Homicide Bureau.