Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 23-year-old Michael Santiago, also known as “Bebo,” and 30-year-old Hector Sanchez, also known as “Coli,” both of Buffalo, were sentenced this afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes. Each defendant received a determinate sentence of 22 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision. 

On August 7, 2020, at approximately 9:00 p.m., the defendants, while acting in concert with one another, shot the victim multiple times outside of a residence on Newton Street in the City of Buffalo. The victim, 38-year-old Jerry Bonilla Matos, died at the scene.

Both Santiago and Sanchez pleaded guilty to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony) on February 17, 2022.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Eugene T. Partridge, III of the Homicide Bureau.