Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty for Fatal Shooting in City's University Heights Neighborhood

Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Michael A. Barnes, 37, of Buffalo, pleaded guilty yesterday afternoon before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio to one count of Manslaughter in the First Degree (Class "B" violent felony). The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge in full satisfaction of the indictment ahead of his jury trial, which was scheduled to begin next week.

On Tuesday, September 12, 2023, at approximately 1:51 a.m., the defendant shot the victim multiple times with an illegal gun on the 3100 block of Main Street near Winspear Avenue in the City of Buffalo. The victim, 28-year-old Thomas Davis, died at the scene.

Barnes faces a maximum of 25 years in prison when he is sentenced on Thursday, February 6, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. He remains held without bail.

Acting DA Keane commends Detectives Jerry Guilian, Erin McCarthy and Judith Walker of the Buffalo Police Department Homicide Squad for their work on this case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Hilarie L. Henry of the Special Victims/Domestic Violence Bureau and Assistant District Attorney John G. Schoemick of the Major Crimes Bureau.