Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III announced that an Erie County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging 30-year-old Marvell Belton, of Hill Street in Buffalo, with three counts of Burglary in the First Degree, two counts of Assault in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon.

The Grand Jury accused Belton, who was recently paroled for a prior 2004 violent felony conviction for Attempted Robbery in the First Degree, of crimes committed during a December 12, 2012 home invasion which terrorized a family in a Clay Street apartment. According to police reports, Belton, armed with two knives, broke into the apartment and attacked a mother and her 16-year-old child, while other children ranging in ages from 10 to 17 hid in a closet. While Belton was attacking the woman and her 16- year-old, the other children ran from the home and sought shelter at a neighbor’s. When the two victims ran to get help, Belton went to the house where the younger children fled and broke out the windows, threatening them as they hid in a bathroom. The defendant escaped to his brother’s home on Clay Street, changed his clothes, and hid behind a dresser, still armed with the knives.

Belton faces up to a 25-year prison sentence if convicted on the highest charges.  District Attorney Sedita lauded the responding officers from the Buffalo Police Department for conducting a quick and thorough investigation and apprehension of Belton.  Belton, as are all those accused of a crime, is presumed innocent until convicted in court.