Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that a jury has found 28-year-old Luis Lopez-Rivera of Buffalo guilty of one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a Class “A” felony. The defendant was convicted on the only charge in the indictment against him.

On February 10, 2018, the defendant strangled his aunt, 47-year-old Maria Rivera, to death inside her apartment on Sobieski Street in the City of Buffalo.

Lopez-Rivera faces a maximum 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced by State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski on Monday, May 13, 2019 at 9:30 a.m.

DA Flynn commends the investigative work of the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad, including Det. Patricia Wrest, Det. Brendan Kiefer, Det. James Kaska, Det. Joy Jermain and Det. Sgt. Carl Lundin. DA Flynn also commends US Marshals for their work in locating the defendant in Florida.

The case was prosecuted by Colleen Curtin Gable, Chief of the DA’s Homicide Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Schnirel of the DA’s Domestic Violence Bureau.