Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Erie County District Attorney John Flynn says a Grand Jury returned a "no bill," or no charges to be handed up in the death of Tyler Lewis on the University at Buffalo campus back in October.
Flynn says the person who stabbed Lewis was being robbed at the time.
"Since Oct. 14, 2022, our investigation into the fatal stabbing of Tyler Lewis has remained a top priority for my office, our partners in law enforcement and the University at Buffalo," Flynn said in a written statement on Friday. "While I understand that his family has waited six months for answers, it was important that we conduct a complete and thorough investigation into the events that led to Tyler's untimely death in order to present all of the evidence to a Grand Jury.
"The Grand Jury issued a no bill of indictment, finding there was no probable cause to charge anyone with a crime that could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."
According to Flynn, the reason why the investigation into Lewis' death took six months was because his office had to piece the puzzle together with a timeline of what exactly happened, and there were also individuals who either needed to be tracked down for the investigation, didn't give factual information into the incident, or looked to legal counseling before speaking.
Flynn says there were a total of six people involved in the incident, including a group of five and the sixth individual arriving on his own. Of the five individuals that were together, one of them was Tyler Lewis, two others were Buffalo State students, one was a former Buffalo State student, and the other one was a UB student. The single individual in question had no affiliation with UB or Buffalo State
The Erie County District Attorney's Office have official proof of the five individuals getting into a car at Buffalo State and leaving the campus, only later to be seen on another camera at UB North. However, Flynn says the entire incident was never caught on any security camera.
The incident took place in the Richmond B parking lot at the UB North campus. According to Flynn's investigation, Lewis and the group of individuals were attempting to make a marijuana sale with the one individual, however, they were going to steal the drugs with the use of $1,800 worth of counterfeit money.
Lewis was the only one of the group that entered the other individual's vehicle with a backpack that contained the I.D. and cell phone of one of his friends, the counterfeit money, and also a large kitchen knife. It was sometime shortly after Lewis had gotten in the car that something went wrong with the deal and a fight broke out.
According to eyewitness testimony as part of the investigation, the fight eventually escalated in the parking lot with the five individuals all beating up the one individual. It eventually came to a point as the dealer was getting stomped on, Flynn said the individual pulled out a knife and stabbed the closest person to him in the chest. That victim ended up being Lewis.
After Lewis was stabbed, he attempted to run back to the vehicle that he came in with the other four individuals, but collapsed before he could get in. Two of the individuals with Lewis ran off, while the other two hung around briefly before being confronted by an RA on campus and then driving off.
It was the RA who called 9-1-1 in an attempt to help Lewis. The 19-year-old was transported by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Over the course of the six-month investigation, search warrants were needed in order to obtain phones from certain individuals, as well as cell phone records for information leading up to the time of the incident. Flynn said that process took months to be able to execute.
Flynn adds investigators were able to recover the counterfeit money that was attempted to be used as part of the drug sale, as well as the kitchen knife that was in the bag. However, the knife used in the stabbing and the marijuana that was attempted to be sold was never recovered.
Flynn also says the Lewis family and their supporters knew all that was happening with the investigation, saying there was always full transparency with what was happening.
Even with the evidence originally showing the stabbing was a justifiable action under New York law, Flynn says he still put this case into the Grand Jury out of respect for the Lewis family. After the Grand Jury's investigation was completed, they voted for a no bill on the matter.
With the no bill being declared, the matter is now officially closed with no charges forthcoming to the individual who stabbed Lewis.
Flynn acknowledges the family will likely not be pleased with the decision, but this case showed the stabber in this incident was legally justified with the stabbing under New York law.
