Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case has found 31-year-old Reginald M. Branch, Jr. of Buffalo guilty of one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony), convicting the defendant of the lesser included offense. Judge Case rendered his decision this morning after a four-day, non-jury trial that began on June 8, 2022.

On December 1, 2020, at approximately 11:30 p.m., the defendant stabbed the victim, 50-year-old Damon O. Jones, multiple times in the chest. The incident occurred inside the victim’s upstairs apartment on Kilhoffer Street in the City of Buffalo. The victim died at the scene.

Branch faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced as a second violent felony offender on Monday, August 29, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. He continues to remain held without bail.

DA Flynn commends Det. Sgt. Chris Plizka and Det. Ray Krug of the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ryan D. Haggerty of the Homicide Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Milton D. Gordon of the Felony Trials Bureau.