Buffalo NY Man Sentenced To Prison For Deadly Stabbing

A Buffalo man has been sentenced to prison for fatally stabbing a man. Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announced that the 32-year-old was sentenced yesterday, Tuesday, October 25, 2022, before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case. Reginald M. Branch, Jr. received a sentence of 16 years in prison followed by 5 years of supervision after he is released. Branch, a second violent felony offender, stabbed a 50-year-old man to death on December 1, 2020, at approximately 11:30 pm. The victim, Damon O. Jones, was stabbed multiple times in the chest. He died at the scene. The deadly incident happened inside the victim’s apartment on Kilhoffer Street in Buffalo.

On July 19, 2022, Judge Case found Branch guilty of one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree. He was convicted after a four-day, non-jury trial. Assistant District Attorney Ryan D. Haggerty of the Homicide Bureau prosecuted the case, along with Assistant District Attorney Milton D. Gordon of the Felony Trials Bureau.

How Many Murders Have Happened In Buffalo This Year?

So far, there have been 49 homicides this year, according to the Buffalo Police Department. However, the data doesn't specify the method of murder. In 2021, there were 67 killings in the city. Violence in Buffalo has been high over the past few years.

Buffalo made the list of cities in America with the most homicides this year. 24/7 Wall St. compiled the list. It used homicide data from this year along with population 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

We considered all U.S. cities with populations of at least 250,000 as well as cities with smaller populations and an average of at least 10 homicides a year between 2015 and 2019. Only cities with publicly available homicide data were considered.

19. Buffalo, NY

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> Murders in 2022 per 100,000 people: 15.6
> Total murders from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2022: 40
> Population: 255,805

Credit: 24/7 Wall St.

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These 7 Prisons Are The Most Violent In New York State

New York released a report with the most recent number of violent assaults on inmates in state prisons. There were 134 inmate deaths noted in the report, although it doesn't break down the prisons where each death occurred or who caused them. Here's a look at some of the general violent incidents reported for 2020, which is the most recent data reported by the state. Compared to 10 years ago, inmate assaults have almost doubled. In 2011 there were 666 and in 2020 there were 1,205 reported. These numbers do not include inmate assaults on staff members. Overall, the number of unusual incidents includes things like assaults, deaths, accidents, sexual misconduct, and disruptive behavior. According to the state,

"The number of unusual incidents has increased 132% from 5,980 in 2011 to 13,870 in 2020. These higher incident numbers were largely due to increases in assaults on incarcerated individuals (+81%), assaults on staff (+86%), contraband (+130%), disruptive behavior (+372%), and staff use of weapons (+1,035%)."

In 2020, 1,836 weapons used to cut or stab, including ice picks, razor blades, can lids and shanks were discovered in state prisons around New York.