Police Say Body of Teen Found in Buffalo Basement Is a Homicide

Police in Buffalo say that the death of an 18-year-old found in a basement was caused by homicide. The teen's body was found in a home on Lower East Lane in the city's Riverside neighborhood. Officers found the corpse when they responded to a call at the home around 3:20 pm on Thursday, November 11, 2021. The unidentified teen's death is the 62nd homicide in Buffalo this year. If you have any information that can help police make an arrest, please call or text the Buffalo Police Department's tip line at (716) 847-2255. My thoughts go out to the teen's family and friends. A loss of life is sad at any age, but losing someone so young is tragic.

Top 5 Causes of Death in Erie County [List]

As much as we hear about violent murders in Buffalo, I was initially thinking maybe homicides would be in the top 5 causes of death in Erie County. But as you can see below, chronic diseases are really the leading causes of death. It's interesting that even though these counties are in the same region, the top 5 causes differ in many of the counties. The data is for all ages, races, and genders. I've also included the number of deaths due to COVID-19, which is the most recent data available from the NY Department of Health.

Erie
5. Unintentional Injury - 424 (40.7 per 100,000)
4. Cerebrovascular Disease - 477 (35.4 per 100,000)
3. CLRD - 482 (36.5 per 100,000)
2. Cancer - 2,054 (160.6 per 100,000)
1. Heart Disease - 2,387 (180.0 per 100,000)

COVID-19 Deaths - 2,105