City Grill suspect hit with top murder counts

Courts

September 1, 2010

Staff Reports Associated Press Wed Sep 01, 2010, 11:54 PM EDT

BUFFALO — A grand jury indicted a high school dropout on upgraded charges of first-degree murder Wednesday in three of four fatal shootings outside a downtown Buffalo bar.

Riccardo McCray, 23, is accused of opening fire on a crowd outside the City Grill early on Aug. 14, killing a Texas man who was celebrating his one-year wedding anniversary and three guests, two of them women.

After a three-day review, an Erie County grand jury also handed up a charge of second-degree murder in one of the slayings and four counts of attempted murder. The top murder count wasn’t applied in the first slaying but “one of the possibilities for murder in the first degree is when you kill more than one person in the same criminal transaction,” prosecutor James Bargnesi said.

McCray pleaded not guilty and was ordered held without bail. If convicted, he could get life in prison without possibility of parole.

McCray, who was in special education programs before quitting high school, was charged with four counts of second-degree murder last week after he surrendered to authorities at a local television station.

Bargnesi told the judge that McCray only surrendered after initially fleeing to North Carolina, where he has relatives. Defense attorney Terrence McKelvey disputed the claim, adding that “he’s adamant about his innocence.”

The restaurant’s managers, reacting to a dispute, had decided to close early and told patrons to leave. One witness said about 200 people crowded onto the sidewalk, some trying to quell a shoving match in a parking lot.

Among the dead was 30-year-old Danyell Mackin, who was celebrating his first anniversary with his wife, Tanisha, who was not injured. They were originally from Buffalo and lived in Austin, Texas. Also killed were Tiffany Wilhite, 32; Shawntia McNeil, 27; and Willie McCaa, 26.

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Courts

Hayes sentence delayed in homicide case
Wilbert Hayes III was behind bars on Monday but not to begin serving his sentence for the slaying of Donald Tyree Nix.

February 6, 2012
In Lockport, Man faces extradition in Vegas fraud
A former Las Vegas resident picked up at the U.S.-Canadian border on Nevada securities fraud charges was ordered held for extradition from New York on Monday, after a judge rejected his claim of diplomatic immunity.

February 6, 2012
Another Mehta defendant gets probation
A Sanborn woman has escaped a jail term after her guilty plea to a federal drug charge.

February 2, 2012
Another deal made in Mehta case
A Falls man will spend a year on federal probation for his guilty plea in a wide-ranging probe of prescription drug abuse centered around former Falls physician Pravin Mehta.

January 29, 2012
Mehta defendant gets “time served”
A Falls resident caught up in a joint federal and local law enforcement investigation into prescription drug trafficking, involving former Falls physician Pravin Mehta, will not have to spend more time behind bars.

January 29, 2012
NU player gets dismissal in sex abuse case
A Niagara University basketball player, arrested in a sexual abuse related case has had that charge dismissed.

January 25, 2012
Case adjourned for Wilson teachers accused of having sex at Bills game
Two Wilson School District teachers charged with public lewdness had their case adjourned this week for a possible dismissal.

January 18, 2012 1 Photo
Drug mule pleads guilty in federal court
A man who ferried marijuana from a Canadian Indian Reservation to the Falls has cut a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

January 17, 2012
Gross prepared for prison term
A host of the Niagara Region’s famous and infamous are asking a federal judge to give Falls contractor and convicted felon John Gross a break later today.

January 5, 2012 1 Photo
Hayes opts for plea in stabbing death
For Wilbert Hayes III, going to trial was just too much of a risk.

November 29, 2011
More Courts Headlines

Courts

Search Results

City Grill suspect hit with top murder counts

Site Map

Contact Us